Death's Little Brother
by mjimeyg
Summary: Harry is told of a new world which might need his help. There he finds new family and new ways to annoy people. (Not Slash)
1. Chapter 1

There she was, laughing with her friends. No boyfriend in sight. This time he would speak to her and he would _not_ make a fool of himself.

Ten feet… 'I can do this!'

Nine feet… 'God she's so beautiful.'

Eight feet… 'Maybe I can offer to carry her books?'

Seven feet… 'Damn it! I have too many of my own!'

Six feet… 'Why do I feel queasy?'

Five fe- 'Crap!'

Clark Kent stumbled and dropped his books.

"Clark? Are you ok?"

'Brilliant.' Clark thought. 'She notices me _now.'_

In the distance he could hear Chloe crowing over winning the bet. Lana Lang knelt down and helped him retrieve his books.

"Nietzsche, Clark?" Lana asked as she picked up The Will to Power. "So what are you? A man or a super man?" She smiled.

"Just a man." Clark said weakly as he began to feel weaker and weaker.

"Kid, you don't look so good." Said a male voice with an English accent.

"Strange… don't feel to good either." Clark groaned.

"Why don't you head in and I'll sort him out?" He heard the man tell Lana.

With Lana gone Clark felt instantly better. 'Why does it always happen around her?' He wondered in frustration.

"Take my advice, stay away from that girl, she is _not_ good for your health." The man chuckled.

Clark looked up to see a young man in his early twenties with messy black hair and bright green eyes smiling at him.

"Easier said than done, we're in the same classes and we're neighbours." Clark smiled weakly.

"And you have the hugest crush I have ever seen on her." The man laughed as Clark looked around frantically, hoping that no one heard him.

"Anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear knows about your crush." The man said as he picked up Clark's books. "_She_ probably knows."

"Oh god." Clark groaned.

"It's not that bad, she is quite beautiful. Having a crush isn't the problem. It's how you control it and allow it to control you that matters."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked curiously as he accepted the rest of the books.

"You have a crush. Accept and acknowledge that fact. She clearly has a boyfriend. Accept and acknowledge that fact. As long as she has a boyfriend the only thing you can be to her is a friend. If you try to be more than that you come off as a jerk and a fool for trying to get between them."

"So I should stay away from her?" He asked forlornly.

The man ran a hand through his hair thoughtfully. "Maybe for today. We will talk later… oh, I'm Harry Potter by the way."

"Clark Kent." He shook the man's hand. "Are you a teacher here?"

"Me? No, I just came by to wish my friends a good first day. You'll probably see them later."

"Erm… ok." Clark thought it was a little strange for an older male to be hanging around a high school and to have high school friends, but he was far too polite to say it.

The bell rang.

"See you around Clark." The man said as he began walking away, leaving Clark to head inside.

'_Emma?'_ Harry thought mentally to his telepathic friend.

'_Yes Harry?'_

'_Clark Kent is not human; he's a good kid though. There's a girl with a necklace that has a green stone in it. It's not an emerald, it has a really bad effect on Clark, it was killing him. I need to get a look at it or find out where it came from.'_

'_I will see what I can do.'_

'_Oh, and the guy looks like a shoe in for Scott's team.'_

'_I'll be sure to let him know.' Came the amused mental voice of Emma Frost._

* * *

Lana Lang wasn't sure what to make of the news she was just given. She was still captain of the cheerleading squad but they had been assigned a coach. Laura Kinney thought they were ok but assured them that they could be better.

"You move well and have decent coordination but you are hampered by the fact that your leader is a part of your team. Miss Lang can't watch you and correct your mistakes whilst she is cheering herself.

"My job is to help you make your coordination perfect. We will do so by learning dance and martial arts moves. By the time you are up to scratch the crowds will be so entranced by you that the game will be a mere side show!" She told them enthusiastically.

"Does that mean my boys can stop training, Laura?" Asked a tall well-built man with light brown hair.

"Only if they want to deny my girls a reason to cheer, _Scott_." Laura riposted.

"Well, I have a request." Scott smiled. "We need to either find somewhere else for the cheerleaders to meet or arrange different times."

"What? Why?" Lana demanded in outrage.

Scott just smirked at Laura with a raised eyebrow as he jerked his head over his shoulder indicating his boys who were watching them.

Laura laughed. "It appears you girls are too big a distraction for the poor little men." She said mockingly.

"They aren't the only ones. If Harry were a jealous man then we might have problems." Scott smiled.

Laura turned back to the cheerleaders. "Ok girls, I believe you have made the cavemen drool enough for the day, Lana, if you have some time I'd like to discuss some ideas with you.

"Scott, go beat your chest with your fellow Neanderthals." She told the new Football Coach.

Scott just laughed and dismissed his boys before heading up to the bleachers where his newest recruit and the young man Harry had pointed out to Emma where talking.

"Ross! Get down there and start running drills." Scott barked.

"Yes Coach!" The young man said eagerly as he headed down with his far too big football padding.

Clark watched wistfully as his friend lived the dream.

"Clark Kent, right?"

Clark stood up respectfully.

"Yes sir."

"You have a good build, and if I hear right, your dad was something of a sporting hero, any particular reason you chose not to sign up?" Scott asked with his arms crossed.

"I couldn't get permission, sir." He said clearly upset by this fact.

"You have a medical condition?"

"Not exactly."

"You do _want_ to join the team though?"

"Absolutely sir."

"Well, maybe I'll come round and talk to your parents. If your pal Ross can suit up and give it a shot then I don't see why you can't."

"There are… issues, Coach."

"I've been around a _long_ time, I haven't met an issue yet that couldn't be dealt with.

"Head on home Kent and I'll see you later. I have to run Ross through the ringer. If he's going to be on the team then he's going to contribute properly." They both winced as they heard the sloppy impact of the short boy against the training dummies. "And make sure he doesn't injure himself."

* * *

Scott, Emma and Laura were driving home after an interesting first day. Scott had been a hit with the football team, Laura was becoming quite the mentor to the Cheerleaders and Emma was tempted to bitch slap Chloe Sullivan. Not a good start for the new Principal.

It had only been Jean's soothing voice in her head that prevented the physical outburst when she read the latest articles on the three new staff members of Smallville High. She had been tempted to do it anyway and then erase the girl's memories.

As it was she had managed to bury her anger. She did threaten to shut down The Torch if she was ever disrespectful to another person through the paper again.

"Looks like an accident up ahead." Scott remarked gravely as they approached a small bridge where something had clearly ploughed through the safety barriers. He put on a brief spurt of speed before they all leapt out.

"Kent! What happened?" Scott demanded as Laura moved to provide mouth-to-mouth as Clark continued chest compressions.

"I don't know he just came barrelling past me and into the river."

The bald headed man suddenly began coughing.

"Didn't I hit you?" He asked weakly.

"If you'd hit me… I'd be dead." Clark said gravely.

"And he wouldn't have been able to save your life." Laura snapped angrily.

"Laura?" Scott asked.

"You saw the skid marks, his car was speeding and he hit the debris on the road. What happened? Urgent phone call?" She asked snidely.

"The emergency services are on the way." Emma reported. "Scott, a word."

Scott left Clark and the bald man in Laura's capable hands.

"Scott, take a look at the car." Emma instructed.

Scott frowned but turned and gazed into the water utilising his magic to see past the water itself.

It was clear that the roof of the car had been peeled back, and there was no way the crash would have done it.

"You think Kent did it?"

"Harry saw something, we know he's not human."

"We'll leave it for now." Scott decided. "We'll report it to Harry, I have plans to talk to the parents anyway."

"Very well." Emma conceded.

"Kent, here, call your parents, tell them you're fine but you could use a lift and some dry clothes." Scott said as he tossed the young man his phone. "It's water proof." Scott laughed as the drenched young man gingerly held it.

Ten minutes later and the police and fire department were barrelling towards them with a tow truck. Five minutes after that and the three new teachers of Smallville High were introduced to Jonathon Kent.

"He did a great job, Mr. Kent. Kept his wits about him and had the situation well in hand by the time we arrived." Scott sang Clark's praises.

"Clark's a good boy. I have every faith in him." Jonathon said sincerely. "If you don't mind I would like to get him home to his mother."

"Of course. We'll see you at school tomorrow, Mr. Kent." Scott told the slightly drying teen.

* * *

The three teachers arrived back at the brand new castle. Harry and Jean had brought them to this universe only a month prior along with his other girls Amara, Dani, Lorna, Brunhilde and the Cuckoos. Jean had been given the recommendation by the Phoenix Council so here they were.

It had been over one hundred thousand years since Harry had dropped into their lives, it was a drop in the ocean compared to Harry's own accumulated years but still quite a feat, especially as Harry had told them that they would have to crossover to the Other side after around five thousand years.

But Harry didn't know everything and dealing with soul-bonded Phoenixes was new to him. Centuries after Harry had arrived Emma had been soul bound to Scott and Jean. The others were already bound to the Cuckoos who were also a Phoenix.

Something about the Phoenix's souls granted their own souls immortality and stability in the mortal realm… so here they were thousands of years later.

Their own universe was stable and capable of taking care of itself, Harry had no desire to stay until the universe eventually died out so they had said their goodbyes and left, they could always return for visits later.

The Phoenix Council had warned them that there was a new type of mutation occurring that centred on the town of Smallville. So here they were in a castle that Harry had literally conjured.

"Lex Luther? His father is absolutely hated in this town." Harry mused as he sipped his coke.

"Gossip is spreading quickly about his son though." Phoebe informed them as the Three-In-One listened to the broadcasted surface thoughts of the town.

"What about Clark Kent? Any word on him?" Scott asked.

"Boy scout, but not hero." Celeste frowned.

"He's considered a geek." Mindee sighed in disgust. "He's an absolute hottie and they still judge him by the fact that he reads more than the rest of his class and lives on a farm."

"He wants to join the football team but his dad won't give him permission." Scott explained. "I was planning on going over to the Kent's to talk to the dad.

"How about you Emma? I heard Jean having to talk you down." Scott laughed.

"That Sullivan girl is a menace!" Emma hissed. "We have only been there a day and she was planning on posting conspiracy theories about what happened to our predecessors. She also said some rather disparaging things about my outfit." She huffed.

Emma was currently dressed in her customary white. She wore a white skirt that came to above her knees with white knee high boots, a white blouse and a white blazer.

"What did you do?" Dani asked with a laugh as she chose to forgo teasing.

"I told her that if she didn't have proof to back up her claims I would shut down the torch."

"That was after I talked Emma down from mentally lobotomising the girl." Jean smirked.

"Probably wouldn't have made much of a difference." Emma groused causing the others to laugh. "I'm hiring you, Danielle, as a student counsellor and as the sponsor for the various clubs like the Torch."

"What! Why me?" She objected.

"As everyone here will agree, I need someone to counter-balance my... somewhat aloof manner." One hundred thousand years and they were still the same group of X-Men... and Harry.

Dani just huffed.

"Aw, we'll save some special time for you, Dani." Lorna teased.

"Special time?" Scott asked.

"_Special_ time, Scott." Lorna said with a waggle of her eyebrows.

"So this is what you lot get up to whilst we are hard at work?" Laura pouted.

"Only until we get our first students." Amara promised. "Besides, we have all night to have our fun as well."

"Screw that!" Laura exclaimed as she jumped up from her seat. "We can start now." She grabbed Harry and they vanished.

"I swear none of you ever grew up." Scott groused.

"Where's the fun in that?" Dani laughed before the others vanished leaving Scott, Jean, Emma and Brunhilde in the lounge.

"Not joining them Hilde?" Jean asked.

"Soon, I confess, I am feeling homesick. Although I spent many centuries away from Asgard, I always had the knowledge that I could return. I am still struggling to cope with the realisation that this is fairly permanent."

"Only until we are happy this universe is stable, then we can move onto the next one and look forward to new adventures." Jean assured her. "One day we may even go back home. Harry has the power to take us anywhere in the mortal realms at any time."

* * *

The following afternoon Scott made his way to the Kent Farm. The football team was a little cocky but they had a solid starting point. Pete Ross was a walking disaster, but the boy had heart, even if it was because he wanted to be popular. Scott was determined to see the kid reach his highest potential.

He could hear Clark and Jonathan Kent arguing as he headed towards the sound of voices. As he rounded the corner he watched in horror as Clark jammed his bare arm in a wood chipper.

"Shit!" Scott exclaimed as he sent a burst from his eyes at the power source stopping the chipper. "Dammit Kent! What the hell are you doing?" Scott demanded as he rushed forward to try and stop the bleeding.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Clark assured them.

"What on earth possessed you to do something so boneheaded Clark?"

"I... I was just trying to prove a point to my dad." Clark said with embarrassment.

"Maybe next time you can do it without giving him a heart attack." Scott admonished.

Both Kent men jumped as Harry suddenly appeared. "Problem Scott?"

"Who are you people?" Jonathan demanded as he positioned himself in front of his son.

"I'm the football coach for Smallville High, I came to talk to you about letting Clark join up. After seeing his stunt just now I decided to call in my friend Harry here. We're both experienced in dealing with people with powers."

"This was just a freak accident." Jonathan assured them. "The blades probably weren't tightened and that's why they didn't hurt him."

Scott looked at Harry.

Harry just smirked. "Oh he's lying out his arse alright. He's far more concerned about us carting Clark off that he's forgotten I just appeared out of thin air."

"Clark hasn't forgotten." Scott corrected with a hint of approval.

"How long have you been on Earth, Clark?" Harry asked.

"What?"

"I think you should go." Jonathan said firmly as he stepped forward between Clark and the men.

"Oh relax." Harry said dismissively. He walked through Jonathan and offered his hand to Clark. "You might remember me, Harry Potter? I also go by the Master of Magic and Death, but I wouldn't worry too much about that last one."

"Are you delusional?" Jonathan demanded.

"You do realise he just walked _through_ you?" Scott asked.

"And my son just survived jamming his hand in a wood chipper. I don't see him going around claiming to be 'Death'." He retorted.

"Would you really like him to prove it?"

"I don't do party tricks." Harry objected. "Look, ignore the Death bit, just accept that I am very powerful, probably the most powerful person you will ever meet. Scott is a mutant and a wizard. His mutant power involves concussive blasts from his eyes; his magical powers are... whatever he can figure out.

"Now, how long have you known Clark is an alien on this planet?"

Jonathan looked very uncomfortable.

"Dad?" Clark asked worriedly.

"He found us the day of the meteor shower. Fell from the sky right in front of our car. We hid his ship in the storm cellar."

* * *

After seeing his ship for the first time, Clark had bolted leaving Jonathan to deal with Scott and Harry. He had taken them inside to meet Martha. She was very wary but much politer than her two men.

"Do you think Clark will be ok?" She asked as she gazed out the window.

"Once he gets over the fact that he isn't the only alien around? Sure." Harry shrugged.

"There are others? More from Clark's home planet?"

"No idea, I was referring to Scott, myself and our family. We aren't even from this universe, let alone this planet. Scott and I are from two different universes, or realities. I'm still not sure on the terminologies."

"Why are you here?"

"To help." Scott replied. "We come from worlds where society was split into two groups. Those with a special power like magic or mutant abilities and those without. One group looked down on the other and wars and genocides occurred. Harry has been instrumental in bringing peace and equality about. Now we are here as we were advised that something similar was about to emerge."

"Like Clark?" Martha asked.

"No, Clark is an alien, what we are looking for will be something of an evolutionary shoot off of the standard homo-sapiens line. That and I will probably start making magicals." Harry grinned.

"'Making magicals'?" Jonathan parroted.

"Remember how I introduced myself as the Master of Magic? One of my roles is to bring magic to the world."

"You intend to make Clark a... wizard?" Martha asked worriedly.

"Probably. I was thinking of starting with you and Jonathan."

"What? Why us? We're just farmers."

"Magic isn't about performing grandiose tasks. It's about utilising a form of energy that should be a part of everyday life. You can use magic to do simple things like washing the dishes, cleaning the house. Conjuring supplies, healing wounds... etcetera."

"Sounds like an excuse to be lazy if you ask me." Jonathan said with a slight scowl.

"Or a way to be more productive. Imagine how much more you could get done around the farm with magic at your disposal. I can milk every cow at the same time. I can layout the feed for the animals with a click of my fingers. I can have all the standard farm chores done within an hour leaving me plenty of time to make a survey of the land and animals to catch problems early and then make any transports and deliveries leaving me time to spend with my family."

"It doesn't sound like you know much about farming." Jonathan scoffed.

"I have had several farms and ran most of them by myself."

"You aren't as young as you look, are you?" Martha noted shrewdly.

Scott answered. "I, personally, am over one hundred thousand years old. Harry is over nineteen _million_ years old."

They sat there staring at the two relatively young looking men.

"That's a fairly hard thing to swallow." Jonathan said slowly.

"It's also fairly irrelevant to the here and now." Harry said. "Scott, myself and our family have exceptional powers. Powers that far exceed Clark's. We don't intend to use our powers to harm others, only to protect. If you claim to be good people then you won't have any problems with us and we will soon be fast friends."

* * *

As Martha made her way down to the kitchen the next morning she froze on the steps when she heard strange voices, she quickly went back to the bathroom for her husband. Jonathan was less than pleased at being dragged out of his shower but he grabbed his shotgun and made his way down in his towel.

He was surprised to see two young women sitting at the table and drinking hot drinks and just talking and laughing.

One was blonde haired with almost aristocratic features wearing a light blue summer dress; the other was ebony haired with Native American features dressed in jeans and a shirt.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He demanded.

He was a little disturbed when neither girl was startled, they just turned and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Dani and this is Amara. Harry sent us over to help out around the farm and give you a demonstration of magic."

Jonathan was shocked when he found himself holding a hot cup of coffee and fully dressed.

"And may I say Martha, you have one hell of a hubba-hubba husband!" Dani grinned at the slightly hiding red head.

Martha was unsure how to respond to _that_ comment until she saw how uncomfortable it made her husband. So she smirked and sauntered in with a little extra sway to hips. "Thank you dear, he is quite the specimen."

Jonathan took a deep breath... and quickly changed the subject. "So last night wasn't a bad dream? Magic is real?"

"It is." Amara smiled deciding to let the farmer off the hook. "I will be helping Martha out around the house and farm whilst Dani helps you with the other chores."

"Do either of you _have_ experience on a farm?" Jonathan asked.

"Multiple farms. Quite a few dealt with non-earth native animals."

"What's a non-?"

"Alien animals." Dani supplied. "We come from a universe where there was life on other planets. We already know Clark is an alien so we can assume there will be other life-forms out there."

"We prefer to keep that knowledge quiet." Jonathan added hastily. "Even Clark didn't know he was an alien until last night."

"That had better be the last secret you keep from Clark." Amara said warningly. "Remember that Harry has lots of experience dealing with people. Especially children. He learnt from his own dad that being as truthful as possible with children will earn you their trust. Start keeping secrets and they will use any excuse to get away from you."

"Erm... hi?"

All heads turned to see a very confused Clark Kent standing in the doorway.

"Oh god... the Trips were right... he is gorgeous." Dani groaned. "When he hits maturity we _have_ to try him out. Ow!"

"Please excuse Dani, she has trouble remembering to conform to social norms." Amara apologised having whacked her friend on the shoulder. "You are very attractive, Clark, just like your parents."

Clark wasn't sure how to take that. Two incredibly beautiful women had just complimented his looks. But they had also called his _parents_ attractive.

"Thanks?"

"Clark, meet Dani and Amara, friends of Harry... and I assume Scott?" Martha introduced.

"Oh yes. Of course you might see more of me around the school as Emma was threatening to hire me as a student councillor." Dani informed them. "But I'm hoping she was joking."

"Should you really be making such... forward remarks to potential students then?" Jonathan asked.

"I'm not hired yet." She smirked.

"Why are you here?" Clark asked.

"To educate your parents on the benefits of magic in the hopes that they will accept Harry's offer." Amara answered.

"What's the catch?" Jonathan asked, the town's dealings with the Luthors at the forefront of his mind.

"Magic is free, it doesn't give you the right to circumvent or break the law. So... no catch really."

"What was the offer?" Clark asked.

"To make you and your parents magicals. Like us."

"You want to give me the ability to do magic?" Clark asked sceptically.

"Why not?" Dani asked.

"I believe the better question is 'why'?" Jonathan countered.

"It's what Harry does. He is the Master of Magic, his very nature and existence is to spread magic amongst the universe. He has just decided you three would be a good place to start." Amara explained.

* * *

Amara and Dani enjoyed every second of their time on the farm, it was always fun to blow someone's mind by showing off with magic and both girls were at home with nature.

"Do you think you and Jonathan would be interested in some investors or partners?" Amara asked as she levitated the chicken feed into the pens.

"I'm not sure. This farm has been in the Kent family for generations." She said doubtfully.

"I'm not looking to take a piece of ownership, money doesn't really mean much to us. We live so long that we all just have to find things to do so we don't get bored. I was thinking of volunteering on your farm or starting my own one.

"Volunteering here would be pointless as this farm is too small for three people with magic. We would need to double the size and population to be truly productive."

"I don't think we could afford that." Martha admitted

"That's where I come in as an investor. I buy up lots of surrounding farmland and sign it over to you. In return you let me work on the farm and maybe we export a percentage of the produce to third world countries."

"Charity work? It's a lovely idea but a farm doesn't-"

"Remember what we told you Martha, we have run lots of farms. There is very little you could tell us about running a farm." Amara warned with a smile.

"You seem very certain that we will accept your offer to become magicals."

"You are good sensible people. Whilst we would be happy to make you magicals, teach you and then leave you be, we believe you would be ideal candidates as examples for others as magicals."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of fame."

"Your fame wouldn't be any greater than that of living in a small town and everyone knowing your name and where you live."

* * *

Amara found Martha was quite the hard sell. They had expected distrust when they realised that they had been keeping Clark's secret for a decade, even from Clark himself.

Martha's reluctance was shot to hell when Dani and Jonathan returned that afternoon for lunch.

"Martha have you seen what they can do? Dani created sheepdogs out of _nothing_! She healed a cow that had a thorn in its hoof! She converted the tractor to work on... I have no idea what!"

Martha just stared at her husband. He was usually very level headed, but often sceptical and pigheaded when it came to morals and new ideas. She was surprised that he was even considering magic after his rant about the Luthors and gifts.

"Why did you convert the tractor?" Amara asked Dani.

"Just an example. I didn't want to shut his mind down with the knowledge that magic made a tractor pointless." She smirked.

Martha cleared her throat. "Despite my husband's... eagerness, I believe we should sleep on it for a few days first."

"That's fine with us. Do you mind if we come back and help out though? This was so much fun and brought back some great memories." Dani asked.

"That would be great!" Jonathan exclaimed.

"There are still this afternoon's chores." Martha reminded him.

"Martha, Dani completed _everything." _Jonathan emphasised.

"You still need to check the animals."

"I put a ward up that will alert you if there is a problem." Dani shrugged. "You might as well show us around town."

"A ward?" Martha asked.

"A magical tripwire that will send you a mental alert if-"

"What is that noise?" Martha asked suddenly, interrupting Amara.

"That siren noise?"

"Yes." She said as she looked around.

"That is the sound of an intruder on your property tampering with your animals out back."

Jonathan grabbed his shotgun and began rushing outside as Martha followed with the two girls.

They ran for about forty meters when they came across three identical blond women all dressed the same who were absently flicking their hands at the herd and causing it to change colours.

"Jonathan, Martha, meet Phoebe, Celeste and Mindee. They are part of our family and were just giving an example of what it felt like if the wards were tripped." Dani smiled.

"Hi!" The triplets said in unison as they waved cheerfully.

"Hi." Came the rather weak response from the farming couple.

* * *

Scott once again headed up the driveway to the Kent farmhouse. In all the excitement over the revelations regarding Clark's origins he had forgotten the real reason he had visited the previous evening: to recruit Clark on to the team.

"Coach Summers, good to see you again." Martha smiled as she let him in. "I hear you know our other guests?"

Scott saw Jonathan seated at the table with Amara, Dani and the triplets. "With deep regret, I admit I do." He said with mock sincerity.

"Sit down Cyc'." Dani ordered. "I assume you didn't come here to round us up?"

"No, I came to ask if Mr and Mrs Kent-"

"Jonathan and Martha, please." Martha interrupted.

"Thank you, I was hoping I could convince you to let Clark join the football team."

Jonathan frowned. "I'm sorry, it's just too dangerous."

"Because he might get hurt? I thought Clark was invulnerable. That's what Harry said last night." Mindee asked.

"No, because if he loses control of his powers he could hurt someone, even kill them."

"I highly doubt that will be a problem." Scott assured them.

"When Clark was young he didn't stop in time and he left a large hole in the side of the house."

"And yesterday he successfully performed CPR without breaking any ribs, something that happens far too often when regular people try it." Scott countered.

"He did?" Martha asked; this part was news to her.

"Yes, Emma, Laura and myself arrived after Clark had ripped the top of Luthor's car off and was already performing CPR when we arrived on scene. Laura only aided by providing mouth-to-mouth."

"It's more impressive than you think, then." Martha breathed as she sat down. Half the chairs in the room had been conjured by the girls. "Clark never took lessons in CPR."

"He's a genius?" Amara asked.

"He's an alien." Celeste said.

"His mind is far different than the average human." Mindee continued.

"He's smarter than even Harry." Phoebe finished.

"And if he slips up?" Jonathan continued to push his point.

"I promise to have the worlds most powerful healer on hand at all times." Scott smiled. "I believe Harry could do with something to occupy his time. We'll have Emma hire him on."

"I think he was planning on working part time at Smallville Medical Centre." Dani pointed out.

"He can do that when he's not with me."

"Clark could still kill someone."

"Trust me, death is not something that would stop Harry. He _is_ Death." Dani snorted. "If you are supposed to be dead he kills you. If you aren't supposed to be dead he will jam you back in your body."

"Quite the surreal experience." Amara mused as she sipped her drink.

"It will be fun to all be at the school." Mindee smiled.

"What jobs do you do?" Martha asked.

"Oh, we don't have jobs." Celeste told her.

"We will be attending as students." Phoebe explained. "We are due for a burning day so we will be able to pass for high school students."

"Jean wanted to do it as well." Dani laughed.

"And I begged her not to. The last thing I need is to be seen having an improper relationship with a student." Scott sighed.

"What's a burning day?" Martha asked.

"We three are a Phoenix." Phoebe explained. "Every few decades we burn up and are reborn from our ashes as babies, we then go through rapid growth until we reach late puberty."

"Is that why you look so young despite being thousands of years old?" Jonathan asked. Martha still couldn't get over how trusting Jonathan was being.

"No, we look young because Harry keeps us this way. Harry never ages, he managed to figure out how to use his magic to keep us young so we don't age." Dani answered. "He used to make a potion for his family in his home universe but now he only uses that to give to the rest of the population."

"Where is Clark?" Amara asked as she noticed the darkness falling outside. "I would have assumed he would arrive home before Scott would."

"Yes, he also has the dance tonight." Martha frowned.

"I take it he doesn't usually disappear for no reason?" Scott asked.

* * *

Clark was in agony as he hung from the scarecrow perch. Whatever it was about Lana's necklace... it felt like it was killing him.

"Help me!" His voice was like a whisper on the wind. Jeremy Creek had abandoned him here in his quest for revenge.

"Amazing Clark. I've haven't even known you a week and I am having to save your butt."

"Harry?" Clark wheezed as he weakly raised his head.

"That would be me." Harry said as he ripped the necklace from Clark's neck.

Clark instantly felt invigorated and he snapped his bonds and jumped down. "We have to get to the dance, Jeremy Creek is going to kill everyone!"

"Who?"

"I don't have time to explain!" Clark said as he grabbed his clothes and zipped off.

"Ah the impetuousness of youth." Harry muttered wistfully as he sent out a mental call to Scott to let him know he had found Clark and the situation. He then focused on the young alien and teleported after him.

* * *

Lana was enjoying a slow dance with Whitney as they wore their crowns when the doors slammed open and Coach Summers marched in with Clark Kent and the Sheriff.

"Kill the music." Scott ordered.

"Coach? What's going on?" Mr. Blair asked as he was serving as a chaperone.

"Just under an hour ago I led a search party when Mr. Kent here was reported missing. I was disgusted to discover him tied up like a scarecrow in his boxers.

"Fordman, Macintyre, Dunkirk and Marlow, you will go with Sheriff Miller to answer for charges of kidnapping and assault. You can consider yourselves dropped from the team." Scott sneered as he snatched the crown from Whitney's head and tossed it to the ground in contempt.

The school looked on in shock as their evening was ruined.

"You can't do this!" Dunkirk shouted.

"Watch me." Scott snapped.

"Come on boys. Your parents have been called." Miller advised them.

"This dance is over, collect your stuff and make your way home. If I find anyone else is complicit in what happened tonight... there will be hell to pay."


	2. Chapter 2

"Coach Summers! Coach Summers!" Scott turned around to see Chloe Sullivan racing down the crowded hall after him. It had been a long night and he hadn't gotten much sleep and he still had classes to teach and he knew she wanted a quote.

"Make it quick Miss Sullivan. The bell's about to ring."

"Can you give me any details of what you found last night regarding Clark Kent?"

"No. It is a legal matter between the Kents and the families of the boys involved."

Chloe frowned at that, she had hoped for something more. "Do you feel justified in your decision to drop the boys involved from the team? Do you regret making a snap decision?"

"Those boys blew their chance in this school to play football. If they want to transfer to another school that is their choice. Actions have consequences, Miss Sullivan; this is the consequence of theirs. And for the record, I don't make snap decisions regarding things like this. The rules have always been there, I'm just the first coach to enforce them."

Chloe pounced on that. "Is that why Coach Arnold was fired?"

"It is not my place to speculate on such matters." Scott was an old hand at handling the press and as tenacious as Miss Sullivan was, she was still a naive rookie.

"Are you expecting any fallout from the families?"

"I always expect trouble, that way I am pleasantly surprised when it fails to materialise." Scott smirked. "Make sure you quote me completely, Miss Sullivan, I will not be pleased if I find you twisting my words."

Chloe was very offended by that. "I'm only after the truth, Coach Summers."

"Just make sure you draw the line between chasing the truth and invading people's privacy." Scott warned. "I'm well aware of your 'Wall of Weird'. So is the rest of the staff. Take it down. It is offensive to the people who suffer these mishaps."

"Who told you about that? Was it Clark?" She demanded.

"When Miss Frost took up the post of Principal she investigated every nook and cranny in this school, Miss Sullivan. She has a responsibility to the students and that includes making sure the building is safe."

Chloe decided to try and change track. "What about Jeremy Creek? Has there been any news on his whereabouts and condition? Is he still wanted in connection with the murders of former alumni?"

"That is not my domain, I'm just a high school coach, and if you will excuse me I need to attend to my duties."

* * *

"Jeremy has a unique gift, Mr Creek. He has the ability to create and manipulate electricity." Jean explained to the older couple as they observed him using his electricity through a two-way mirror in a special lab in their castle.

"Is this something they did to him at Belle Reve?" Mr. Creek asked.

"No, it is something that developed in him. Our studies show that there is a rising trend in people who exhibit these new abilities. We are hearing stories from all around the States and on the other continents."

"Is it hurting him?" Mrs. Creek asked.

"No, he is actually fairly immune to electricity now. But he will require training to help him get control or he will be a danger to others."

"And what makes you qualified to train him?" Mr. Creek demanded.

Jean just smiled and levitated herself into the air. "My colleagues and I are fairly well experienced."

* * *

"How did it go?" Lorna asked as Jean took a seat across from her as she sat in her office. Lorna was to be the first head of the new school. They would rotate every few decades as needed so they didn't feel trapped in their roles.

"They accepted my suggestions. Jeremy will stay here and learn basic control for the next few months before enrolling at a high school in metropolis to complete his education."

"My first student!" She said in excitement.

"Technically, although Scott is talking to the Kents about having Clark attend classes. Did you hear about the car crash and explosion that Mr. Fordman suffered an hour ago?" Jean asked.

"That wasn't Clark's fault was it?"

"Oh no, but the only reason Fordman survived is because Clark pulled him from the wreckage and shielded him from the explosion with his body."

"The girls were right, he is a boy scout."

"There's more, he confessed to his dad that he woke up floating over his bed this morning."

"He can fly? Without magic?" Lorna asked in surprise.

"So it seems. The fun part is, he's afraid of heights!" Jean laughed.

Lorna joined her laughter. "That is just wrong!"

"Harry has said he will train Clark in using his powers, he's assigned Scott to train him in what he calls 'Hero Tactics 101'."

"Couldn't ask for a better pair of mentors. What about the Kents and magic? Are they accepting the offer?"

"They are still considering it. Harry wants to hold off giving magic to Clark until he is fully grown and in control of his native powers."

The phone ringing interrupted them.

* * *

"This guy was just hanging from the rafters?" Harry asked. Having received the call for help from Martha Kent, Lorna had contacted Harry and sent him over.

"He just leapt out from the shadows." Jonathan confirmed.

"Then there are these." Clark shone his torch at the ceiling revealing green glowing slime.

"Reminds me of Pete and his descendants." Harry muttered.

"You've seen this before?" Martha asked.

"Similar, we used to knew a man who was empowered with the traits of a spider. He could climb any surface with his bare hands, he could shoot webs... his powers where passed down through his children. There were a lot of people who had powers from creatures. Including one girl who had squirrel abilities."

"Squirrel abilities?" Clark laughed.

"Yeah... you haven't finished growing yet, think about what weird powers you might develop, _Flyboy_." Harry taunted lightly.

Clark turned a rather sickly colour.

"Clark says he recognised the boy, Greg Arkin. He used to be friends with Clark and Pete Ross." Martha offered as she tried save Clark from the current conversation.

"Ok, I'll get with Emma, see if she can't find out anything new."

"I'll see what I can dig up as well." Clark offered.

"Call me if you find anything." Harry instructed.

"I don't have a phone." Clark admitted.

Harry hummed in consideration before he stepped forward and grabbed Clark's wristwatch. "There, in an emergency smash your watch, I will be less than a second away."

"But then my watch will be broken."

Harry waved a hand at the bent and buckled machinery Clark had damaged when saving Jonathan from a potentially fatal fall when Greg had attacked.

"I think I can fix it."

"Can you fix my bed?"

* * *

"Scott, thank you for coming." Emma greeted her husband as he entered her office.

"Problems already, Dear?"

"I am currently the principal for _another_ school filled with potentially super-powered teenagers. Of course there is a problem." She said dismissively.

"And what problem is that?"

"I just said, I'm currently the prin-"

"I get it, Emma." Scott smiled. "So did you call me here to bemoan your fate?"

"No, I'm afraid that there are even more problems for your football team."

"I'm already down four players, what's the problem now?"

"Several of the players were caught cheating."

"Caught by _you_ or caught with the answers?" He asked referring to her telepathy.

"By their teachers with the answer sheets. One brave soul was actually hinting to his teachers. I personally believe he has the moral fortitude to stay on the team."

"How many?" Scott asked, bracing himself for the bad news.

"Three. But the number could be higher."

"Looks like I am going to be playing the complete second string team." He sighed. "Do you think we could get Harry to go back to school?"

"Darling, there are many things Harry will do for us, pretending to go through puberty again is not one of them."

* * *

"Do you like babies Martha?" Harry asked abruptly as Martha opened the door to her home to him.

"A strange question... but yes, I do." She was slowly beginning to learn that Harry only abided by social norms because it was easier at times. More often than not he would charge into conversations without explanation.

"You never had children of your own?"

"We never managed to conceive." She admitted sadly.

"Well... break out the contraception as I healed you up." He grinned.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your uterine wall was a little thin, probably prevented any viable embryo from attaching."

"Oh... erm... thank you?" She said a little uncomfortably.

"So, how would you like to practice with some actual newborn babies." Harry asked as he clapped his hands together.

"You... what?"

"The triplets decided to have their burning day last night. They will spend the next month or so growing up from newborns to late puberty. I thought you might like to have some fun."

"Won't it be difficult to explain how they grew up so fast? Or why they don't have paperwork?"

"No, we decided to keep things low key in this universe. We will hide them from the public till they are grown and then forge any needed paperwork."

"Forge it?" She asked warily.

"I suppose I could walk up to the local hospital and explain that three of my girlfriends burst into flame and are now newborns that require birth certificates." Harry mused sarcastically.

"I see your point." She allowed. They had had to fudge things with regards to Clark's adoption. "If you nee-"

"Hold that thought, Clark needs me." Harry interrupted before he vanished.

* * *

Harry appeared next to Clark in some sort of abandoned industrial complex, the walls and ceiling were littered with cracks and missing windows. Clark was cowering in a corner.

"Clark, sit-rep." Harry whispered harshly.

"Huh?"

"Oh... right, haven't been taught yet. What's the dealio man?" Harry asked with a cheesy grin.

Clark stared at Harry before shaking himself. "Greg Arkin attacked Lana, I chased him here but the green rocks, they make me sick."

Harry looked around. There were a lot of green rocks. "Where's LaAAAAAANNNNAAA-!" Harry's question morphed into a wail as he was grabbed from behind and flung away.

"Uh uh ah Clark." Greg said mockingly. "No tagging out."

Clark was really worried; from what he had been told this should have been a cakewalk for Harry.

"Greg you don't have to do this you... you..." Clark trailed off as he stared over Greg's shoulder as large mounds of debris began to shift. The sound of creaking metal and breaking rock filled the air as both boys now focused on the commotion.

Slowly Harry emerged in his dragon form. "Ok kid, now I'm pissed." He growled in his dragon voice.

"Oh god! Oh god! Oh god!" Greg had every reason to be afraid... reptiles tend to eat bugs.

"Sorry kid, I don't think he's interested in helping you right now." Harry chuckled, a deep and gravelly sound.

There was a flash of red light and Greg Arkin slumped to the floor in a heap. Clark looked to the source and saw Scott and Laura standing in the broken doorway, Scott's eyes were glowing red and there appeared to be metal claws protruding from Laura's hands.

"Clark, you have a lot of explaining to do." Harry said as he suddenly became human again.

Clark's eyes shot wide open. "_I_ have a lot of explaining to do? I'm not the one who became a mythical creature!"

"That's easy to explain." Harry smirked as he walked over to Laura. "Magic!"

* * *

"Are you sure it's ok for me to come over and spend time with the girls?" Martha asked Lorna once again, Harry had sent her to pick Martha up whilst he dealt with Greg Arkin.

"Martha, once they hit four plus, we'll take them to places like the zoo and Disney World." Lorna smiled. "They won't realise who they are until they reach about fourteen, but they will always retain the memories of their childhoods."

"It is one of the reasons I am grateful for them being Phoenixes." Emma admitted. Martha had a little trouble looking at the new Principal of Smallville High. It seemed that as soon as she got home she would dress in nothing more than a cape and some bikini bottoms. Fortunately the cape acted as a top, covering her breasts like a bra.

Emma either didn't notice Martha's discomfort or didn't care as she continued talking. "The girls are biologically mine, but they were created by cloning and didn't have a childhood when created."

"aarrrrrrrRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh"

***THUMP***

"Wha-"

"Relax, that was Scott and Harry trying to teach Clark how to fly."

"How to-"

"Come on Clark, this is how birds do it!" They heard Harry laughing as they came up the stairs.

"Birds have wings! I don't!"

"You don't need wings, you told us that yourself." Scott added.

"I AM NOT A BIRD!"

"I'll say, you definitely aren't pretty enough." Harry teased.

"Thank goooouuuarrrkkk" Clark choked as he saw his principal reclining on a couch in her underwear. He quickly turned away.

"Emma, do the kid a favour and cover up a bit." Harry requested as Scott just rubbed his temples, he could feel a headache starting.

"Fine. But he had better start getting used to it if he is going to be spending any amount of time here. I like my freedom." Emma pouted as she transfigured her costume into a light white dress.

"She's decent Clark." Lorna smirked.

Cautiously he turned around and sighed in relief.

"Am I truly that hideous, Mr. Kent?" Emma asked dryly.

"No! No Miss Frost you are... um, definitely _not_ hideous." Clark managed to say, his cheeks were burning so red that Martha worried he might have developed a new power.

"Harry Darling, try to instil some of that class you often display into your new student."

"What about me?" Scott asked.

"You can be a gentlemen, Scott, but you lack... a certain something."

Scott turned to Clark. "It's never a good thing when a woman says you are lacking something."

Martha cleared her throat before the conversation could deteriorate further; she was thanking her lucky stars that Jonathan wasn't there. "When did you get here? I didn't see you arrive."

"We teleported straight up to the tower." Scott answered. "Greg Arkin is safely locked away."

"Where's Jonathan?" Harry asked.

"He's with Dani and Amara, they are out surveying the surrounding lands." Martha smiled.

"Cool. Now, Clark, what is with those green rocks, how did you know they were what was causing your problems?" Harry asked.

"What problems?" Martha demanded.

"I discovered that the green meteor rocks do... something to me. It's very painful and makes me very ill."

"They reverse your absorption of solar energy and have a nasty effect on your blood... I don't know much more than that as I haven't had time to study your physiology." Harry shrugged.

"Can it kill him?" Martha asked as she moved to hug Clark, more to assure herself than her son.

"Not on it's own, or just by exposure. But it does make him a bit more vulnerable. It would be great if we could run some tests." Considering the manic grin and the way he was rubbing his hands together in anticipation... the Kents weren't filled with confidence.

* * *

"So tell me Clark, how did you know it was the meteor rocks?" Harry asked again as they walked back to the Kent farm.

"You remember the necklace around my neck when you saved me in the corn field?"

"This one?" Harry asked as he removed a small box from his pocket and showed Clark the necklace.

Clark backed away quickly.

"Yeah, these are really bad for your health. I'll try and work on them." Harry promised as he closed the box and put it back in his pocket.

"Lana told me that the necklace is part of the meteorite that killed her parents... it's supposed to represent good coming from the bad I think."

"I hope her explanation is better than yours... otherwise it's just plain morbid." Harry's nose was wrinkled in distaste.

"We should give it back to her." Clark said. "I know she treasures it, she never goes anywhere without it." Clark nodded to the house they were passing.

Harry changed direction.

"Harry?"

"You said we should return it."

"Oh... well just leave it on the door handle, she doesn't need to know who returned it."

"Clark... what did you tell me you learnt about Greg's powers?" Harry asked as he stopped and turned to face him. "You think he got them because he was attacked by meteor infected bugs, do you really think it is smart to give something potentially dangerous to Lana?"

"She'll be devastated." Clark whispered sadly.

"Not if we handle this right."

Harry knocked on the door only for it to be opened by the girl in question.

"Clark... hi!" She said surprised.

"Hey Lana." Clark gave a small wave. "Oompf!"

Harry's elbow gave Clark the hint.

"Lana, this is Harry Potter."

"Potter? Are you related to my Aunt?" She asked, a smile gracing her beautiful face that made Clark want to swoon.

"No, just a coincidence." Harry smiled back.

"I remember now, you helped the other day when Clark wasn't feeling well outside the school."

"Yes, that's one of the reasons we came to talk to you. I'm also the one who found Clark in the corn field."

Lana's expression turned very dark. "I can't believe Whitney would do something so... cruel! I'm really sorry Clark."

"I appreciate it, Lana, but you're not the one who should be apologising."

"May we come in, this shouldn't take long."

Lana led them into the living room and introduced them to her Aunt.

"Clark is very strong and capable of defending himself. Mr. Fordman should have had a lot of trouble over powering Clark." Harry explained.

"He had help." Clark pointed out.

"He also had this."

Lana's face lit up as she saw her lost necklace sitting in the little box that Harry was holding. "My necklace!" She exclaimed as she reached out for it, her smile vanished as Harry moved it out of reach closing the box.

"There is a problem."

"The problem appears to be you keeping my niece's necklace from her." Nell Potter said pointedly.

"With good reason." Harry assured them. "I am actually Doctor Potter, I've been asked by the Principal to act as the medical support for the High School. Whitney put this around Clark's neck and when I found him he was having a severe reaction to it. It also explains why he was feeling sick when we first met but got better when you left."

"How can you be sure it's the necklace?" Nell asked stiffly.

"I found him tied to a stake in a corn field in nothing but his boxers... the only foreign object was this meteor rock."

"He seems fine now."

"This is a lead lined box. It helps lock away the radiation."

"Radiation?" Lana asked worriedly.

"Whilst I had the rock in my possession I ran some tests on it. It is giving off an unknown form of radiation. I'm afraid I can't return the rock as it is far too dangerous." Harry said apologetically. "However, I hope you will accept this as a replacement." Harry said as he held up an exact replica.

"A cheap imitation?" Nell demanded in disgust.

Harry ignored the abrasive woman. "I recommend you get that appraised and insured." Harry told Lana. "Consider it a gift and apology for having to take this away." He indicated the meteor rock.

"Thank you." Lana said softly as she fastened the necklace around her neck. "I don't understand why Whitney would do this."

"Jealousy."

"Harry!" Clark hissed.

"I told you, everyone knows!"

"Knows what?" Nell asked.

"Everyone knows that Lana is one of the most beautiful girls in town. Clark especially has a crush on her."

Lana and Clark were both blushing.

"Why would you bring something up like that? Lana is in a committed relationship!"

"Which is why I can bring it up." Harry shrugged. "Having a crush and acting on a crush are two very different things... speaking of which, Greg Arkin is in custody. Clark and I apprehended him this afternoon."

"What? Why am I just hearing about this now?" Nell demanded.

"It's ok, Whitney found me and rescued me." Lana assured her.

Both females snapped around at Harry's dismissive snort.

Lana noticed Clark's defeated look. "But Whitney was there when I woke up."

"You never noticed the large Clark shaped hole in the side of the tree house?" Harry laughed. "He tracked down Greg based on prior knowledge of the kid and research he did with Miss Sullivan and Mr. Ross. He confronted and chased Greg off leaving you safe for Whitney to 'rescue'."

"In his defence, Whitney wasn't there when that happened, I just told him where to go." Clark spoke up. "He probably didn't realise what had happened."

"Once again, I submit the evidence of the 'Clark Shaped Hole'."

"Are you hurt Clark?"

"I'm fine, I landed in some soft moss." He assured her.

"Well, thank you for informing us of what happened." Nell said politely. She found it hard to maintain her ire considering they were apparently responsible for keeping Lana safe.

* * *

"Did you have to bring up my crush?" Clark demanded as they continued back to the farm.

"No, but trust me, things will be easier in the long run. Besides, if she ever breaks up with that idiot then she knows there is someone much better waiting to sweep her off her feet. You will also be stuck in her mind."

"At least I could have been her friend before, now she will probably avoid me."

"Clark, I've been dating women for millions of years. I think I know a little about how these things work."

"And why did you tell them meteor rocks affected me?!"

"Because now Lana knows to keep an eye out for them and to make sure you aren't exposed to them. You should accept all the help you can get Clark."

* * *

"Miss Kinney, can I talk to you for a moment." Lana asked as she knocked on the door of the new Cheerleading Coach's office.

"Lana, sure, come in and take a seat." Laura smiled.

Lana sat down and shuffled uncomfortably in her seat.

"What's the problem Lana?"

"I think I want to quit cheerleading." Lana breathed as if trying to expel the words from her body.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "So you aren't sure?"

Lana gave a non-committal shrug.

"Can you tell me what the problem is? I promise that whatever you say won't leave this room."

"It's just that with everything that has been going on... Clark as the scarecrow, rumours of cheating... I'm finding it harder to believe I'm cheering for something good."

"Ok, but those bad elements are now gone. Coach Summers is one of the most honest men I know. He won't tolerate that sort of thing. So what's the other reason?"

"I just... I feel like I should be doing something... more?"

"You've been thinking of the future and wondering how cheerleading is going to help yours?" She asked with a knowing smile. She laughed at the look on Lana's face, one that was shocked that she understood. "You aren't the first cheerleader to have a brain, Lana. The important thing to remember is that you are in High School; it doesn't have to be all about grades and tests. Enjoy your youth whilst you can, take the happiness when you can attain it and let the adults guide you so you are prepared for adulthood."

"I feel like I should be getting a job and actually doing something with my life. Not just dancing and cheering with pom-poms."

"Why don't you take a break then? I know that in about a month's time I will have three new cheerleaders. Go spend a month looking for a job or something that interests you, then come back and see if you still want to cheer."

* * *

"You were let go for a reason Mr. Arnold and your attitude shows me that you definitely don't belong here." Emma said sternly, Assistant Principal Kwan was standing to the side; he had been the one to bring the charges of cheating to the Board.

At first they had been reluctant to do anything, but then a mysterious financial backer had come in and paid them off and replaced the Board. The Board now consisted of Harry and his girls.

Coach Arnold was fired and Emma Frost was appointed as the Principal. Kwan had been a little hurt that he had been passed over, but he had to admit Frost was good at handling the school.

"I built that team! For twenty-five years I worked hard to build this school into something to be proud of!" Walt Arnold raged.

"You built it on corruption!" Emma snapped back.

Walt slammed his fists on the desk. "You naive little bitch!"

"Mr. Arnold!" Kwan stepped forward.

"It's ok, James." Emma said as she stood. "Mr. Arnold will be leaving now."

Walt's face was red with rage; Kwan was shocked when the television nearby burst into flames.

"James, pull the fire alarm." Emma ordered as she stood and reached for the nearby extinguisher.

* * *

"Emma, what happened?" Scott asked as he finished taking a roll of all the students assembled in the parking lot. The fire engines were already there and the firemen were inspecting her office.

"I'm not sure, but I think your predecessor might be a pyro-kinetic." Emma speculated.

"He attacked you?"

"Kwan and I were in my office, he came storming in, demanding to have his job back. He got angry and the fire started. I don't believe he knew he was doing it."

"This next game would have been his two hundredth." Scott mused.

"I do not like him. I will be issuing orders that he is not permitted on the grounds. That includes the coming game."

"Principal Frost, good to see no one was hurt." Sheriff Miller tipped his hat as he approached. "The Fire Marshall says they can't find a source for the fire and are reluctant to let anyone in until they do."

"Very well, whilst you are here I would like to inform you that I intend to take an injunction out against the Mr. Walt Arnold."

"You believe Coach Arnold was the one who started the fire?" The Sheriff asked, it was clear he doubted it.

"I can not say, but my reasons are more to do with his behaviour and attitude. I believe he is a danger to the students and teachers."

"Well... I'll put the word out among the other deputies, but you will need to go to the local courts to make it stick."

* * *

It was dark by the time Emma, Scott and Laura were ready to leave for home. Emma had needed to coordinate with the Fire Department, as the school's evacuation time was abominable. Of course she had to work out of Scott's office as neither her nor Kwan's office had been cleared by the firemen.

"Some things wrong." Laura said as she paused in securing her seat belt. She sniffed the air. "Everybody out of the car!"

The steering column suddenly burst into flames as Scott dived out of the drivers seat.

He felt the reassuring presence of Emma in his mind that was soon followed by a worried Jean.

He backed away from the car as the fire grew and the car exploded.

"Scott, if you wanted that convertible so bad, you could have just bought it, you didn't need to blow up this one." Harry commented as he teleported in with Clark and Jean.

"He's joking right?" Clark asked Jean.

"Yes, Clark. Scott hates driving, he can teleport after all." Jean laughed.

"Can't you put the fire out?" Clark asked.

"We could, but we should leave it to the fire department, they get very picky about these sorts of things." Emma commented as she and Laura rounded the car, Laura was dialling 911. "Did you sense him, Jean?"

"I did Emma. He was very angry but he knew it was he who caused the fire. He was trying to start it."

"He who?" Clark asked.

"The former football coach, Walt Arnold." Scott answered. "He's not happy he was fired."

"Why was he fired? He coached my dad when he played."

"He was helping his players cheat and abusing them." Harry scowled.

"This is going to be a long night." Scott sighed.

"So you won't be throwing me off the top of the tower again?"

"Your lucky day, eh Clark?" Harry teased.

* * *

Walt Arnold was pissed. Fired from his job just because some stuck up little girl didn't appreciate all the work he put into the team. He had moulded those boys from nothing. Developed the plays tailored to their talents.

He had then discovered his new ability to start and control fire. But he couldn't even kill that bitch Frost. That would have had a wonderful sense of irony for him. Frost killed by fire.

He was pulled from his musings by a knock at the door.

"What do you want kid?" He asked the dark haired young man.

"Hey, are you that legendary Coach Walt Arnold?" The man asked in a British accent.

"Yeah, you want a recommendation or something?"

"Nah, just needed to make sure it was you."

That was the last thing he saw before a flash of red light.

"Time to get you back to the dungeon!" Harry declared as he grabbed the man's leg and vanished.


	3. Chapter 3

"aaaAAARRRRRRgggghhhhh"

***THUD***

"More flight training?" Martha asked as she rocked Celeste who was sleeping peacefully. Jean and Emma each had one of the others in their arms.

"It's supposed to be, but I think that now Clark knows the fall won't hurt him, he is just working on his landing." Jean laughed.

"Are we sure he can fly?" Lorna asked.

"It seems that way, he did have proof in his broken bed." Martha shrugged.

"_In_ his bed?" Lorna asked with a salacious grin, causing Martha to blush.

"It doesn't really matter if flying is one of his abilities, this will still help him get over his fear of heights." Jean pointed out.

"aaaaaaRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHhhhhh"

***Thump***

"Actually, I have been counting the length of his screams." Emma smirked. "They are getting longer."

"What does that mean?" Martha asked.

"That he is slowing his descent."

* * *

"I really don't want to do this."

"You said the same thing about flying."

"I meant it then and I mean it now!"

"But now you know you have no rational reason to fear heights."

"No, just you."

"I will admit I take a bit of pleasure in pushing you off the edge of the tower."

"I knew it!"

"Perhaps we could begin?" Brunhilde interrupted Harry and Clark's bickering.

"Look, I am _very_ strong, the chances of you getting hurt are _very _high." Clark said as he began backing away.

Brunhilde just sighed. "Husband, a demonstration if you please?" She asked as she piled her long blonde hair on top of her head.

Clark watched in horror as Harry conjured a lightsabre of all things and chopped Brunnhilde's head off.

"Oh my god oh my god Oh My God OH MY GOD!" Clark cried in horror.

"What? What happened?" Dani demanded as she teleported in. She then saw Brunnhilde's headless body. "Don't just stand there Harry! You're going to give him nightmares."

Harry just smiled and reached out a hand causing Brunnhilde's soul to appear, she waved cheerfully at Clark.

Clark was frozen in shock.

Harry waved his other hand and backed away as Brunnhilde's body stood up and her head floated on to her neck. Her soul walked over to her body and sank inside.

"By the All-Father! I hate beheading, always leaves me feeling as though I was gagging and choking." She groaned as she rubbed her healed throat.

"You-you-you-you-" Clark stuttered.

"Have just proven that Harry can heal anything you do to me, including death." Brunhilde finished.

Dani moved over to Harry.

Brunhilde held her arms open invitingly. "Shall we begin?"

"Fighting lessons?" Dani whispered to Harry.

"Nah, dance lessons."

* * *

"Clark, you look exhausted!" Lex commented as Clark slumped into the chair opposite as he sat in the coffee shop surrounded by paperwork.

"I am exhausted."

"You're dad increase your chores?" He asked curiously.

"No, they signed me up for after school classes with a friend of theirs."

"What were the classes in? Wrestling?"

"No, they said that would come later, for now it's dancing."

"Did I hear right? Clark Kent is learning to dance?" Came the amused voice of Lana Lang who was in the middle of her very first shift as a waitress.

"Oh, hey Lana. How's it going?"

"Terribly. But don't try to change the subject!" She laughed.

"It's not a big deal, Coach Summers thinks I need to learn better control, I'm fairly strong and he wants to make sure I... channel it properly, hence the dancing." Clark recited the cover story they had given him.

"You are dancing with a woman, right?" Lex teased.

"Yes." Clark scowled lightly. "But she's a real taskmaster."

"I thought dancing was supposed to be fun?" Lana asked.

"Not when you keep stepping on your partners toes and she decides to retaliate in kind." Clark sighed.

"Ouch!" Lex winced.

"Exactly."

"'We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.'" Lex quoted.

"See, you're not the only one to have read Nietzsche." Lana smirked. "Well... get good soon, Clark, you still owe me that dance." Lana ordered before she left to return to work.

Lex gave Clark a knowing smile and a waggle of his eyes.

Clark just groaned and sank further into the chair.

* * *

"Come on Ross! Get your centre lower, remember, he's leaning forward, you want to plough into his off-balanced legs!" Scott yelled as Pete ran drills with the other players.

"How're your boys doing, Scott?" Harry asked as he came to stand by Scott at the edge of the field.

"They've got potential, but they are definitely playing at second string level at the moment."

"Think they'll win tomorrow?"

"If they do it will be a fluke."

"How's Clark doing?"

"He's got the control down, but I'm wary of putting him in for the whole game. Ross has got some nice moves but he's too green, doesn't have the stamina to last a whole game."

"My advice, put them in at the beginning, hopefully they can score some points so the replacements have a good starting point and a great deal of hope."

* * *

The game had been well fought, but the Smallville Crows were just too inexperienced to handle the more seasoned opposition. Pete Ross had put on a fine showing and startled many a cocky player as he took them down. Trevor, the player who had stepped up and reported the cheating, had been fairly nervous in his position as newly elevated captain, but he rose to the occasion.

Clark... Clark had an excellent arm and Scott was moving him to Quarterback. Especially as he tended to over compensate for his powers and wound up getting pummelled.

Lana Lang had a truly spectacular day. A spectacular disaster! It had resulted in her being fired after being informed she was not 'waitress material'. She found herself at Luther Mansion looking for Lex to make use of his greater experience.

"Lana? I'm surprised to see you here." Lex smiled charmingly.

"I need some advice and you seem like the sort of person who might be able to help." She smiled back.

"I'm intrigued." Lex said as he ushered her to the seats by the fireplace.

"Did you know that Clark was strung up as this years scarecrow?" She asked with distaste.

A look of realisation appeared on his face. "That was Clark? I heard voices in the fields outside the plant but when I reached the stake there was no one there."

"I am not pleased with Whitney at the moment."

"Which is what makes you a good person. But I hope relationship advice is not what you came to me for... as you pointed out in the stables, I'm not the best person to come to for that." He smirked.

Lana blushed slightly as she recalled reminding Lex of their first meeting and how she had caught him in a compromising position with a young lady.

"No, Clark was rescued by Doctor Harry Potter, he's new in town like you. But he saw that my necklace, which is made with meteor rocks, was affecting him. He sorted Clark out, but he says the rocks give off a dangerous energy and couldn't return the necklace."

Lana pulled out the replacement Harry had given her. "He gave me this instead, but he said I should get it appraised and insured, I was wondering if you might have experience in this sort of thing and could tell me about it." She said as she handed it over.

"Strangely enough I have been trained in gemmology." Lex said as he moved to his desk. "It's a useful talent for billionaires." He smiled as he retrieved his eyepiece and began an inspection.

After a few seconds he let out a deep breath. "Lana... this is a flawless emerald. Very, very expensive."

"Really?" She asked doubtfully.

"Yes, you really do need to get this insured, I'm just not sure you could afford too."

"Why would he give me something so expensive?" Lana wondered.

"I have heard of Potter, he appears to be independently wealthy and has a large extended family. He could just be eccentric and generous, or... he could have designs on you." He warned.

"I don't think so, my Aunt was there and so was Clark when he was explaining things and gave it to me. He seemed to be giving it to me as an apology for not being able to return the real one."

* * *

"Lana... hi?"

Lana laughed at Mrs. Kent's reaction to turning up on her doorstep. "I seem to be getting that response a lot today. Is Clark around?"

"In the barn." Martha smiled.

Lana quickly made her way over to find Clark who greeted her with a similar response.

"Lana! Hi!"

"Hey Clark, do you know where I can find Doctor Potter?" She smiled.

"Who?"

"Doctor Potter, the man who came with you to explain about my necklace."

"Oh... Harry." Clark rolled his eyes a bit at the thought of the man who liked to push him off high buildings.

"I was due to head over there later today, we can go now if you want." He offered.

"It won't be too much of an imposition?"

"Do you like babies?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Then as long as you don't mind learning to change diapers it should be fine."

* * *

"They live here?" Lana asked in awe as she stared up at the large turreted castle.

"Yeah... Harry is eccentric, he had it built from existing materials."

"Was he trying to compete with the Luthors?"

"No, he says he felt homesick and wanted to feel better." Clark explained as he marched up to the large wooden doors and pulled a nearby chord for the bell.

A few minutes later Emma, who much to Clark's relief was dressed in a summer dress and not her costume, greeted them.

"Mr. Kent, you're early."

"Lana was hoping to speak to Harry." Clark shrugged.

"Of course Miss Lang. Mr. Kent, you may go and find Hilde, I will escort Miss Lang to Harry."

Lana waved to Clark as she followed her Principal up some stairs. The place was huge with staircases at multiple levels that spanned the inside. She could count seven floors in the main section and she knew the towers where higher.

They walked all the way to the fifth floor and she was feeling a little winded.

Emma opened the door to a room and she found Doctor Potter with several other women including Coach Kinney and Coach Summers.

"Lana, what brings you here?" Laura asked.

Lana suddenly felt very self-conscious. All these men and women were very attractive and three of them were her teachers.

"Relax Miss Lang, we don't bite, we are simply a group of adults you have come across." Emma stated simply. "Harry, Miss Lang came looking for you."

"Cool, lucky me!" Harry grinned as he stood up. "Follow me and we can talk over here." He indicated a couple of chairs by the window.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"The necklace you gave me, I took it to Lex Luthor to see if he could tell me about it... you did say to get it appraised."

Harry laughed. "I meant in the city, but I assume he told you it was an emerald."

Lana nodded. "A flawless emerald that I probably couldn't afford to get insured."

Harry's face fell and his jaw hung loosely.

"Doctor Potter? Are you ok?"

"Stupid!" Harry exclaimed.

Lana jumped slightly.

"Sorry Lana, not you, me. And call me Harry, even my patients do." He said calmingly. "Are you free for the rest of the day?"

"Erm... I guess... why?"

"Excellent." Harry said as he jumped to his feet. "Girls, I need a volunteer to take Lana to Metropolis to get her necklace insured. I gave her an emerald but forgot it was expensive."

Lana was surprised at the rolling of the eyes and lack of objections to this news.

"I'll take her." Jean offered. "I'm Jean Grey, we'll take Clark as well, he can learn something new too."

"I really don't want to cause you an inconvenience."

"The only inconvenience is Harry, he doesn't always think things through!" Said a woman who really shocked Lana with her bright green hair. "Hi, I'm Lorna and I think we have far too many similar names around here." She laughed. "I'm going to come too."

"If all of you are going I won't bother, but I'm also not going to try and pry Clark out of Hilde's clutches." Harry smirked.

* * *

The trip to Metropolis took a few hours in the mini-van they owned, Jean idly mentioned she would look into getting a helicopter to cut down on travel times. They spent the journey discussing Clark, much to his horror.

"Is it true one of your friends is teaching him to dance?" Lana asked with a teasing smile.

"Oh god." Clark groaned.

"Definitely, he's doing good on the football field but he is very strong, it comes from all the farm work." Jean explained. "But he's not very coordinated, strength without coordination is a bad combination, Scott asked Brunhilde to teach him, they are starting with dancing before moving onto fighting."

"Brunhilde? Isn't that a Viking name?"

"She had a very traditional upbringing." Lorna smirked over her shoulder from the front seat.

"What sort of fighting will she be teaching him?"

"Sword fighting and basic hand-to-hand. Once he has got a grip on those Laura will start him on more advanced forms of martial arts." Jean continued.

"Wow, that sounds very intense."

"You'll be getting similar training, Lana." Laura added from the driver's seat. "Every girl should know how to defend herself, Emma is going to be instituting mandatory self-defence classes."

"Emma?"

"Principal Frost." Clark supplied.

* * *

"This is a flawless emerald, I have never seen anything so pure!" The older gentlemen remarked. "I assume you have the appropriate paperwork."

"Actually, we need to establish this as a new find." Jean answered. The other girls were looking at the jewellery whilst Clark and Lana were observing Jean. "We also wish to have it insured."

"I see." The man frowned. The man's eyes seemed to glaze slightly. "That should be no problem." He said brightly before moving off.

"Lana, over here!" Lorna called out.

Jean just nodded and sent her over.

"Try these on." She instructed as she handed over a pair of emerald earrings. "Where's the necklace?"

"I'll get it." Laura announced.

"What are they doing?" Clark asked Jean.

"Playing dress up. Every girl wants to be a princess at some point, they are just indulging in that fantasy." She smiled. "What did you want to be growing up?"

"Normal." Clark answered without missing a beat; it was a sad and sighed answer as he looked longingly at Lana.

"Look but don't stare, Clark." Jean warned.

* * *

Lana stumbled into her home burdened with all manner of baggage.

"Lana? Where have you been?" Nell asked worriedly.

"Erm... shopping... I guess." She said weakly... and slightly dazed.

"Lana, these are expensive things!" Nell could see all sorts of expensive brand name bags. "Where did you get the money?"

"I didn't... Doctor Potter's friends bought them... they said I had to have them." She said as she slumped into a nearby chair.

"Do they think you are a charity case?" She asked curiously.

"No, they... they just wanted to dress me up and make me look nice, we were only supposed to be there to get the necklace insured. I took it to Lex, he said it would be too expensive for me to insure, so I went to return it to Harry... Doctor Potter and the next thing I know, his friends have me and Clark in Metropolis and I'm trying on matching earrings. Things just... escalated."

Nell frowned. "I'm not sure I like the idea of Doctor Potter lavishing you with gifts-"

"It wasn't him, it was his friends, they are all women, they bought themselves clothes as well." Lana laughed suddenly. "Poor Clark was forced to be their Ken Doll."

Nell smiled at that thought. "Even so, I think I should speak to them, just to confirm their intentions."

"You could always talk to Principal Frost, she lives with them all as well."

"They all live together?"

"You know that huge castle that went up a month or so ago? They all live there."

The castle was an even bigger topic of conversation around town than when the meteors hit, it was almost as if the castle had appeared over night. She could believe that Doctor Potter was simply an eccentric philanthropist if he lived there.

* * *

Monday morning had Harry at the Kents' as Clark explained what had happened the previous day when he had run into a bank robbing Lex Luthor look-alike.

"I know it wasn't Lex, Harry. He barely recognised me."

"I'm glad to hear someone believes I'm innocent." Came the voice of the aforementioned Luthor.

"Lex, what are you doing here? Have you seen the police? Aren't they looking for you?" Clark asked.

"Clark, I was at a benefit dinner last night in Metropolis with eighty-two witnesses."

Clark gave his father a pointed look.

"Hi, Lex Luthor." Lex offered his had to Harry.

"Harry Potter." Harry took the proffered hand with a smile.

"You're Harry Potter?" Lex asked surprised.

"That's what my parents named me!" Harry grinned cheekily.

"I've been hearing all sorts of things about you from Clark and Lana."

"Weird things from Lana and complaints from Clark." Harry said with a shrewd smile.

"That sounds about right." Lex laughed. "But I have to ask, why did you give Lana a flawless emerald?"

Harry rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I didn't actually know it was flawless, I had it lying around and had it put in a setting on a necklace, I knew it was an emerald, but that's it."

"Typical rich." Jonathan huffed as he grabbed his coffee and headed outside. Martha just laughed. She knew Jonathan had nothing against Harry; he just enjoyed being grouchy at times.

"So you have a clone running around Smallville?" Harry changed the subject.

"So it seems."

"It can't be a coincidence that this individual decided to rob a bank in Smallville, they could quite have easily gone to Metropolis."

"I never thought of that." Clark mused.

"The Luthors have used the local bank for twelve years, it was part of our way of investing in the town." Lex explained.

"Yes, but I imagine you have much more money in your accounts in Metropolis."

"It's true, it could just be that they knew I was in Smallville these days and decided to take advantage of the fact."

"The whole thing stinks of amateur night." Harry shook his head in disagreement. "I think this person lives locally and couldn't get to Metropolis, so they are probably Clark's age."

"It would take a lot of resources to create a mask that accurate." Lex argued as he held up the paper with the image of his doppelganger in a CCTV image.

* * *

Clark hit the floor of the gym with a thud that made the other students wince. He ignored the calls of Coach Summers as his vision continued to fluctuate. That's when he saw the most beautiful sight of all. The inside of the girl's locker room. It was as if God himself had handed him the keys to Heaven.

He was suddenly pulled from this heavenly vision as Coach Summers grabbed him and hauled him to his feet.

"Everyone hit the locker rooms." Scott ordered as he dragged Clark to a corner. "Ok Clark, what happened?"

Clark looked at him in askance.

Scott just smiled. "I've been teaching kids with super powers for thousands of years, I know what it looks like when one of them uses it for something they shouldn't be.

Clark just blushed. "I... I think I have x-ray vision."

"Oh... is that all." Scott relaxed.

"Is that all?!" Clark asked incredulously.

"X-Ray vision is a benign power, fairly passive. And as long as you don't spend your time gazing into the girls locker room, we won't have a problem." Scott's smile was practically predatory.

"It wasn't intentional!" Clark said defensively.

"I didn't see you looking away." Scott smirked.

"It's been intermittent, I was just trying to see if I could control it."

"I'll let Harry know so we can add it to the list of things to teach you."

"Does this mean you won't be throwing me off the tower tonight?"

"Can you fly yet?"

"No."

"There's your answer."

* * *

"I think its Tina, I think she can make herself look like other people." Clark announced to the residents of the castle when he arrived that afternoon.

"Does this have something to do with the X-Ray vision Martha mentioned?" Jean asked as she indicated her fellow red head that was playing with Celeste and Mindee whilst Jean had Phoebe.

"Oh... hi Mom." Clark waved.

"Hi Clark... X-Ray vision?" She prompted.

"Erm... yeah, something is off with her. She has the same green meteorite in her body as the person impersonating Lex."

"Interesting. Well, you can take Harry and investigate tomorrow." Lorna decided. "For now, Hilde is waiting for you."

Clark's face dropped. He had hoped this would be his ticket out of today's torture. He headed out with drooped shoulders.

"You enjoyed that far too much." Jean chuckled.

"It's worse than you think, she's teaching him to tango today!" Lorna shared in a voice hushed with excitement.

"Clark? Tango?" Martha laughed. "Grab a baby Lorna, this I _have_ to see!"

* * *

"Looks like the place is locked up." Pete remarked as he, Clark and Harry stood outside the antiques store below Tina's home.

"It shouldn't be." Harry said tapping the open hours sign.

"We have to get in there." Clark suddenly spoke up.

"It's locked up tight Clark, no one's home." Pete reminded him.

Harry could hear the urgency in Clark's voice and knew he had seen something. "Let me through boys." He said as he grabbed the handle and opened it with magic. "A closed shop with an unlocked door is always a bad sign." He said gravely.

Clark rolled his eyes knowing that Harry probably unlocked it.

"Yeah... can you smell that?" Harry said as he sniffed the air. He cast a mild charm that produced the smell he wanted.

"God man! What is that?" Pete gagged.

"Death, there is a decomposing human body somewhere in here."

"A dead body?" Pete said worriedly. "Tell me it's natural causes and we aren't in here with a murderer!"

"Bodies don't start to smell immediately, Pete. This one has a few days of stench." Harry assured him. He followed Clark who had made a beeline for a cabinet.

"Let me handle this one, Clark, I actually have the authority to handle dead bodies after all."

Harry carefully opened the cabinet revealing the chalk white corpse of Rose Greer. "Ok boys, this is now a crime scene. You need to wait outside."

* * *

By the time the Sheriff was finished questioning Harry and investigating the scene it was dark outside.

"Sheriff Miller, do you know where Clark and Pete went?"

"We just got an emergency call from Clark. Lana Lang was attacked by Tina Greer, we're en route."

Harry sighed. "Break out the sirens and get me there Sheriff, need to make sure they are ok."

* * *

Clark watched forlornly as Whitney escorted Lana into her home, he cursed his new x-ray vision as he saw them embrace.

"Mom, if you could see anything, what would you do?"

"Learn to close my eyes."

There was a soft snort. "Ignorance is not a good thing." Harry stated as he stepped forward. "You may be able to see things that upset you, but what about the people who suffer because you chose to ignore it and bury your head in the sand? If you do that then one day, you might miss the chance to save someone you love."

Martha sighed. "Harry's right, but it is a personal choice, Clark. We can't make these decisions for you. You need to consider all the possibilities."

"Go home and look up Edmund Burke, he states quite succinctly what happens when good men do nothing." Harry suggested.


	4. Chapter 4

Clark's training had improved to the point where Laura was giving him martial arts training. Clark's ability to learn was impressive, it helped that he had a range of trainers as well. Brunhilde was still giving him dance lessons and sword training but she was planning on handing him off to Harry for more advanced weapons. Harry's millions of years practice with a lightsabre and other bladed weapons made him unbeatable. It also helped that Clark couldn't hurt him; already Brunhilde was having to heal herself from various nicks and cuts. Clark refused to participate in these lessons unless Harry was there after he nearly managed to remove her head.

The day following a party near Crater Lake, Harry received an interesting patient in his office at the school.

"Your core temperature is far too low, you should be dead." Harry frowned as he examined Sean Kelvin.

"I j-j-just c-c-can't get wa-a-arm." The near blue boy chattered uncontrollably.

Harry placed a hand on Sean's head. "Yeah, you need a hospital." Harry declared, he went to move his hand away but Sean held it there.

Harry was fairly surprised as he felt his body heat being leeched out of him and the colour return to Sean's skin.

Sean stood up suddenly and smiled. "Whoa! Thanks Doc, I feel much better." He said as he made for the door.

"Sit your ass back down kid." Harry snapped as he shoved Sean back into the chair. "You still need to go to the hospital to make sure you don't relapse. Now wait here whilst I call an ambulance."

A few minutes later Harry returned and Harry was annoyed to discover that Sean had bolted.

"Dammit!" He quickly sent out a mental message to his family to keep an eye out for him.

* * *

"It's times like this I wish the triplets weren't in baby form." Harry moaned as he sat down in the living room at the castle that afternoon.

"I thought Emma and Jean were powerful telepaths as well?" Martha asked.

"We are." Emma confirmed. "But the girls have an ability to listen to all thoughts and acquire knowledge as necessary. They have a range of nearly one hundred miles and have the ability to filter through millions of thoughts. It is something that neither Jean or myself could hope to achieve."

"It sounds very noisy." Martha grimaced. "And just a little bit invasive."

"They only do it in an emergency and they don't usually focus on who the thinker is."

"It's a power I am glad I don't have." Harry nodded. "You leaving early, Martha?" Harry asked as she handed a two-year-old Celeste to Harry.

"Yes, Lex Luthor asked us to come and listen to a proposal he is making to the local farmers, I'm trying to convince Jonathan to give him the benefit of the doubt." She said with clear frustration towards her husband.

"Oh, well, take Dani with you then. She could give you some advice too, I enjoy the farm work but she handles the business side of things."

"Actually, Dear, Amara handles the business side of things." Emma smirked.

"What? But she always goes to the meetings and comes home nattering away about it."

"And Amara is the one who has to reign her in when she goes overboard."

"Huh... I never knew that." Harry said slightly shocked. "Well... take 'em both."

* * *

After hearing that they were brought to Lex's mansion under false pretences, however noble, Jonathan had attempted to leave in a righteous huff. He didn't count on his two new friends.

"Jonathan! Why didn't you tell us you were having trouble?" Dani asked slightly hurt as they sat in the Luthor Mansion.

"Well... things were getting better with all the help you've giving us." Jonathan could deal with an arrogant Luthor but a hurt Danielle Moonstar was another matter, he couldn't see them as beings as old as civilisation, they looked and behaved like young adults, they reminded him of what he had hoped his daughters would be like had he and Martha been able to conceive.

"You wouldn't let us help you, remember." Amara pointed out as she sat next to Martha on the comfortable leather sofa.

"Not financially, no. But you saved us so much just by fixing the harvester." He said with a pointed look as he referred to Harry's mending of the blades after Clark bent them saving his life from Greg Arkin. "And the work you did on the tractor? It's stronger, quieter _and_ uses less fuel. We _were_ in trouble but we aren't anymore."

Martha just smiled softly at the interaction between her husband and the two girls. He truly enjoyed having them around the farm. She had to agree as often it was a lonely job, but Amara and Dani would always keep one of them company.

"Thank you for your generous offer Lex, but it seems your information is out of date." Martha smiled.

Lex was just stunned. "I didn't actually get to make the offer." He muttered. The two young ladies that had accompanied the Kents were beautiful, but their personalities were quite opposite. Amara was quiet and regal, yet held an authority that had him feeling he should be bowing to her slightly. Dani was a bundle of excitement and happiness. It was no wonder they had even the stubborn Jonathan Kent wrapped around their finger.

The lights flickering off before the power came back on interrupted them. "At least we know the generator works." Lex smiled reassuringly.

* * *

Harry arrived at the home of Jenna Barnum moments before the ambulances and police. He always had the police frequency on in the afternoons, especially if there was a known psychopath on the loose. With Sean leeching heat from people he was on high alert.

He slipped into the house quickly and instantly found indications of foul play... especially as he was staring at the soul of Jenna Barnum.

"Follow me and I'll put you back in your body."

Jenna just looked at him sadly. No one else could hear souls that hadn't crossed over even if he allowed others to see them, but he could communicate with them easily enough.

"I can heal anything, and if I find something that's too difficult I can just create a new body for you." Harry assured her.

Upstairs in the bathroom he found Jenna's frozen and shattered body with her mother crying on the floor. He quickly set to work as he heard the Sheriff entering the building.

"Quick, lie down in your body!" Harry ordered as he finished reassembling it.

Jenna was too shocked to comply so he reached out and grabbed her soul flinging it into her body and erasing her and her mother's memories of him before he vanished just as Sheriff Miller reached the bathroom.

Deciding to head to the most likely individual involved in stopping these attacks he reappeared next to Clark who was also frozen and lying next to a crashed pickup truck. He could tell Clark was still alive so he quickly melted him.

"Clark, report." Harry ordered.

"It was Sean, he killed Jenna Barnum and tried to kill Chloe! I tracked him here."

"Is Chloe ok?"

"Yeah, I got to her in time. Harry, that's Whitney's car."

In the distance they noticed the lights of the Luthor Mansion flicker and then die. They shared a look before they both headed that way.

* * *

Clark arrived ahead of Harry with his super-speed as Sean was advancing on his mother and Amara.

"Stay away from them Sean." Clark said angrily.

"Clark, hasn't Scott taught you not to banter with the bad guys if you have the advantage?" Harry snapped in exasperation as he suddenly appeared.

"Clark? Back for more? Maybe I'll keep you around as a permanent heat source. I'm sure your mom and your girlfriend here will make a tasty appetizer." Sean taunted.

"And that is why you don't banter, very few bad guys can pull it off." Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "Amara, why don't you let Magma out to play?" Harry smirked.

Amara smiled at Harry as her body turned to super hot lava and Martha was forced to step away because of the heat.

"Whoa... I could live off you forever!" Sean said in awe.

Magma just floated forward and grabbed the awestruck Sean and teleported away.

"Wow... I didn't know she could do that." Clark said as he stared at the melted ground.

"That's her mutant power." Harry explained as he waved a hand restoring the scorched earth. "They aren't all that flashy or useful."

"We should get back inside and let the others know what happened." Martha suggested. "Harry, can you fix this?" She asked as she indicated the burnt out fuse box.

* * *

"Looks like everything is sorted." Lex smiled reassuringly at Whitney and Lana who had sought shelter at the mansion when Kelvin attacked them.

"Lex? Was that you?" Jonathan called out as he re-entered the room with Dani.

"No, I've been here since you and Mrs. Kent ran off with my torches." Lex laughed.

"It was probably Martha and Amara then." Dani shrugged.

"And Clark and Harry." Martha added as she returned with the aforementioned duo.

"Greetings all!" Harry waved cheerily. "Very nice place you have here Lex. Reminds me of home."

"Thank you, you were in the area?" Lex asked.

"Clark finished saving Chloe and was tracking Sean down, and I ran into him. I teamed up with him and we tracked him to Mr. Fordman's pickup. It was a short intellectual leap to finding him here when we saw the lights of the mansion go out."

"Sean was here?" Lana asked worriedly. She had been with Clark in Lex's limo on the way to a Radiohead concert when he was reported as being wanted for Jenna Barnum's murder. She had been pretty upset that Clark dumped her.

"_Was_." Martha emphasised. "Amara took care of it."

"I should call the police." Lex frowned.

"Tell them he was here but we ran him off. Don't know where he's gone now." Harry called out, ignoring the suspicious looks from the Kents.

"Wait... you ditched me because Chloe was in danger? Why didn't you say so?" Lana demanded.

"What did he tell you?" Dani asked.

"He just said he had to go and it was really important." Lana glared at the farm boy.

Harry started slapping Clark about the head lightly. "Really? You couldn't have said 'Chloe's in danger!' or 'Sean is after Chloe' or how about 'life and death, be right back!'"

"Ow! I'm sorry! Cut it out!" Clark whined as he fended off Harry's attack.

"A few more for me Harry." Lana called over from where she was stuck next to Whitney with a twisted ankle.

"Yes ma'am."

"Gerrof!"

"Harry, as much as Clark deserves it, maybe you should have a look at Lana and her ankle?" Dani suggested.

"Oh, sure."

"Ok, the little runt's been run off." Amara brushed her hands as she walked back in. This garnered her another suspicious look from the mother and son contingent of the Kent Clan.

"Doesn't seem very smart to go after him alone." Lex remarked as he hung up the phone. "Sheriff said the same thing."

"It will be a cold day in hell when a high school brat can take on Amara Aquilla." Dani said as she smirked at Amara. "Very cold."

* * *

"Harry, where are we going?" Martha asked as they followed him into the depths of the Castle.

"The dungeons. I know you are wondering what we did with Sean, so I thought I would show you." Harry explained.

The dungeons appeared to be just as they sounded. Dark and dank stone with bars on the cells. But when they looked into the cells they saw they were lined with grey metal, there were doors leading to private bathrooms but the beds were in the open, a television sat in the corner of each cell.

It was the occupants that surprised them. Greg Arkin, Walt Arnold, Tina Greer and now Sean Kelvin.

None of the occupants seemed to notice them.

"Shouldn't they be with the police?" Jonathan asked, this did not sit right with him.

"The police aren't equipped to handle them. Each of these people could escape police custody with ease. In the process they would kill untold numbers." Jean explained as she joined them from a small office nearby. "Arkin and Greer both have super strength and Arnold and Kelvin can kill from a distance and use their powers to escape confinement."

"But it can't be right to keep them prisoner like this." Jonathan argued.

"This is why we were asked to come to this universe. Each of them is guilty of murder or attempted murder. We are hopeful that Greg Arkin can be rehabilitated though. Greer, Arnold and Kelvin will be serving out standard sentences." Harry answered.

"But what gives you the right to make these decisions?"

"Whoever created me." Harry shrugged. "I am Death, an Aspect of Existence. There are very few who are equal to me and I have not yet met them, mainly because they don't exist like I do."

"Who are they?" Clark asked.

"Time is one, Magic, Love is actually another."

"You can communicate with Time and Love? These... aspects?" Martha asked.

"No, I just know that they are Aspects like myself. The Phoenix council and various gods have also helped to teach me." He said indicating Jean.

"Just how powerful are you?" Martha asked.

"Nobody truly knows." Jean spoke up. "Harry is the only known physical manifestation of an Aspect. The closest there have been are avatars, like the gods of old; Death had Hades amongst the Greek Pantheon and the Valkyries amongst the Norse. Love had Aphrodite with the Greek Gods.

"In theory, as Death, Harry could literally end all life on the mortal realm."

"But I wouldn't know how to do that and I definitely don't _want_ to do that." Harry added quickly.

"I don't care how powerful you are, I'm still not comfortable with you acting like judge and jury." Jonathan maintained his stance.

"Well, just remember that I outrank you and it's not your call."

"Where's Jeremy Creek?" Clark asked suddenly.

"Due to his partial amnesia we have him in some of our special classes until he can be enrolled in a Metropolis High School." Jean answered.

"But he killed people." Martha exclaimed.

"He suffered severe psychosis from being woken so abruptly. His last memories were of being in the cornfield as the meteors fell, he then wakes up and a decade has passed... his amnesia is a blessing as it allows us to help him. We are hoping to move Greg Arkin soon as well; his psychotic behaviour is a result of having foreign instincts forced on him. The same thing happened to my dad when he was a teenager, for him it was Hyenas."

Harry smiled as he could see Jonathan really wasn't sure about all this. "Just remember, I have been alive for nearly twenty million years, I've worked in a fair amount of universes, I've always had good reviews."

"Most dictators do when they control the media." Jonathan muttered.

"Yeah, but it will be a couple of years before I get to that point." Harry said dismissively to a shocked Jonathan and amused Martha and Clark.

* * *

It was a week later and Clark and Pete found them called to the Principal's office.

"Mr. Kent, Mr. Ross, as you should both be aware all students are required to perform thirty days community service. I have yet to receive your forms." She informed them.

"Oh, I filled one out today actually." Clark said as he produced his application form.

Emma took it, gave it a once over and rolled her eyes.

"I thought we were going to discuss this and sign up for the same thing." Pete was whispering harshly at Clark.

"We were but you kept putting it off!" Clark muttered out the corner of his mouth.

"I can still hear you both, gentlemen." Emma remarked dryly without looking up.

Both boys clammed up and stood stiffly.

"Mr. Ross, would you like me to assign you the same activities as Mr. Kent has applied for?"

"Err..."

"He'll do it." Clark jumped in.

"Amazing powers of ventriloquism Mr. Ross, I have no idea how you got Mr. Kent's mouth to move, but I will need to hear it directly from your own lips." She smirked as both boys blushed.

* * *

"Clark, wait up!"

Clark turned to see Harry walking towards him down the crowded corridor.

"I'll catch up." Clark assured Pete and Chloe.

"What's up Doctor Potter?"

"Seriously Clark, you couldn't have stopped at 'What's up Doc?'" Harry pouted. "We need to work on your sense of humour."

"I'm not sure it's mine that needs the work." Clark smiled.

"Maybe you're right. Follow me, we need to talk."

Clark was a little worried. It was the end of the day; he hoped there wasn't another super powered student to deal with. Clark obediently followed Harry to the doctor's office.

Harry closed the door behind them.

"Is it true you applied for community work at the old people's home?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Clark said slowly.

"Did you do this because Lana works there?"

"No! Of course not!" Clark lied very unconvincingly.

"First of all, you lie like crap, in other words, you stink at it. Secondly, I can see souls and it actually lets me see if someone is lying to me. Thirdly, you are bordering on stalking, with Lana." Harry warned.

"What?!"

"I'm surprised Chloe and Pete haven't said anything, if either of them were doing it then you would have said the same thing!"

"That's not true." Clark said defensively.

Harry just laughed. "Compare your actions with those of Tina Greer and see what answer you come up with. I'll give you good news and bad news.

"The good news is that Lana likes you. If she breaks up with Whitney you are a shoe in for his replacement.

"The bad news is she wants to give it a shot with Whitney... personally I think she is beating a dead horse but that's just me.

"You are also creeping her out a little with the stalking. Remember that in the past few months she's had two already."

There was a knock at the door, both men stared at the door, Harry sighed. "Speaking of stalkers... Clark I'll see you later for your daily dose of Tower Tossing." He said as he opened the door to reveal Felice Chandler in her cheerleader outfit. "Miss Chandler, I can guarantee from here that your thighs are in good health."

"Are you sure, _Doctor_, I'd really feel better if you would take a closer look. Maybe feel them... just to make sure." She said flirtatiously.

Clark sat there out of sight his jaw hanging limply.

"Wouldn't you just feel bad though if I went home and it turned out something _was_ wrong with my _long silky_ thighs."

"I'm fairly certain I will manage to live with myself." Harry said firmly. "If you're that worried I could arrange for an ambulance to take you to the hospital."

"No, I'll be fine I guess." She pouted as she turned and walked away with a _lot _of sway in her hips.

Harry closed the door quickly and leaned back on it, releasing a long breath.

"There is no way I am as bad as that." Clark stated firmly.

* * *

"Harry! Harry!"

Everyone turned as Clark burst into the living room of the castle frantically calling for his mentor.

"Clark? What's wrong?" Martha asked as she handed off a three year old Mindee to Lorna.

"I- I need to speak to Harry, where is he."

Martha was worried, Clark was agitated. Scared even.

"He's up on the tower." Jean frowned.

Clark vanished in a gust of wind.

* * *

Clark ascended the stairs at super speed.

Clark opened the door at super-speed.

Harry went flying at super-speed... just not under his own power.

"Oh shi-"

* * *

Dani and Amara were helping Jonathan move some hay; it had been an enjoyable day. Working with Jonathan and Martha, relaxing, for them even. Up until now the Kents had been reluctant to accept the gift of magic. Jonathan definitely enjoyed the benefits of having the girls working on the farm, but was still suspicious of being given these powers with 'no strings attached'. There were always strings attached.

The actual truth was that he was afraid the girls would stop helping around the farm if they accepted the powers, he would truly miss them. But Jonathan was an expert at denial.

"yyyyyyyeeeeeeeaaAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGG"

***CRASH***

***THUD***

Jonathan and the girls quickly ran into the barn to see what had happened, Dani held him back at the entrance as Amara went first to scout.

"Dani!"

"No powers, no going anywhere till it's deemed safe." Dani smirked at her 'hostage'.

Jonathan just glared at her.

"Its just Harry." Amara called out.

They rushed in and Jonathan immediately felt the need to vomit, fortunately he was made of stronger stuff. "My god! What happened? I thought he was invulnerable!"

"Well... un-killable would be more accurate." Dani explained. "You can destroy his body as easily as any other human, but he will always recover."

"He can come back from that?!" Jonathan asked, the stench was terrible, as Harry's guts had been spilt open along with crushing nearly every bone in his body from the impact.

"I am not going back in that!"

Jonathan spun around to see an ethereal image of Harry Potter standing there.

"Harry? Are you dead?"

"Nope, just having an out of body experience."

"Would you just fix your body and get back in!" Dani demanded.

"Would _you_ want to get back in that? I'd feel unclean for a week! I'll just create a new one." He waved his hand and his broken body disappeared.

"Harry... I think you have another bonded on in this universe." Amara said hesitantly.

Harry looked down at his ethereal body and could see the links to his bonded as streams of light that faded off after a foot or so towards the castle. Two of the streams were connected to Dani and Amara, but two separate streams much weaker than the others were pointing one to the west and the other the east.

"Huh... I guess we could go and investigate at some point." Harry said in suppressed surprise.

"HARRY! HARRY!"

"In here Clark." Dani called out.

A gust of wind and Clark joined them. "Oh god! I killed Harry!" He cried.

"Please!" Harry scoffed. "People more powerful than you have tried and failed."

"But aren't you dead?"

"Nah, just a nobody." He smirked.

"Speaking of which, hurry up and build your new one." Dani ordered.

* * *

"So this Cassandra claims she can tell you the future?" Harry asked as the five of them sat around the Kents table having heard about Clark's encounter with a seer at the old people's home.

"I told you Clark, no one can-"

"You really don't want to finish that sentence." Dani winced.

Jonathan looked at her in disbelief.

Amara laughed. "Jonathan, you already know that magic and aliens exist, Harry brought us here through space _and time_."

Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "I suppose it is a bit silly to keep doubting things."

"I believe her, I just don't want to be the last person alive!" Clark said desperately.

"Really not going to happen." Harry shrugged. "I. Can. Not. Die!" Harry said as he poked at Clark's forehead, punctuating his words. "None of us in the castle can truly die anymore, if we are all still here when the universe dies out do you honestly think I will leave you here alone?

"Clark, I know how much torture that would be, I spent over ten million years alone in my home universe my only other company was my best friend Neville, a Phoenix who would visit me every few hundred thousand years. Trust me, you will never be alone if I have something to say about it."

* * *

The following day Emma made an announcement to the school that there was a murderer in Smallville. Harry had arrived at the home of Jim Gage when the call came over the police scanner only to find he was too late and the man's soul had moved on.

Sheriff Miller was not pleased with Emma's actions.

"You could start a panic in town!"

"I could save their lives by making them more cautious!"

"We will have everyone suspecting each other and turning on each other!"

"I'm not a fool, Sheriff." Emma spat. "I gave them enough knowledge to know that it is unlikely to be someone they knew. This person appears to be following the signature of Harry Bolston, whom we both know is missing from the Home."

"Bolston is an old man with arthritis, there is no way he could do this."

"Which just means he likely has an apprentice or a copycat, either way the killer is unlikely to deviate too far from the established signature." Emma explained more calmly, but personally she wasn't going to make any assumptions about it not being Bolston until they caught the culprit. "The students know not to let strangers in the house at night and not to open the door unless they can verify the identity and purpose of the visitor. They also know not to go out alone."

* * *

"Harry, Cassandra gave me another vision!" Clark said as he rushed into the castle.

"And?"

"Someone is going to die. Oh and we think Harry Bolston was de-aged somehow."

"How do you know this?" Emma asked.

Clark couldn't help his blush as he saw Emma was dressed in her costume today.

"Clarkie come play?" Clark looked down to see a five-year-old Mindee smiling up at him hopefully.

"Mindee sweetheart, come play with me for a bit. Clark has to talk with Harry." Martha smiled.

Mindee pouted but joined Martha and her sisters with Lorna and Jean.

"Clark? You were explaining?" Scott prompted.

"Chloe looked up the news articles from Bolston's crimes, she found a picture of him and realised we actually spoke to him in the Talon."

"Would you mind if I took the memory of Bolston and shared it amongst us?" Emma requested.

Clark looked very uncomfortable.

Emma just rolled her eyes. "I am fully aware, without reading your mind, that you are trying not to think about my body, I promise not to go searching for anything other than Mr. Bolston."

Clark had surpassed tomato and attained beetroot levels of blushing.

* * *

"Come in."

Emma was quite bemused when Clark led a scowling and reluctant Chloe Sullivan into her office trailed by Pete Ross.

"Principal Frost, Chloe made a discovery about Harry Bolston." Clark said as he pushed Chloe forward. If looks could kill Chloe would have easily killed Clark.

"Miss Sullivan?" Emma prompted.

"Bolston is going after people he thinks wronged him. More specifically their children. The ones who stopped him from attending the advanced music schools and put him in jail." She stated grumpily. There was no love lost between the two blondes.

Chloe had managed to put the facts together after Clark rescued Zoe Garfield who was the granddaughter of one of the jurors who put Harry Bolston away for murder.

"You have compiled a file?"

"Just a few paper clippings." She shrugged.

Emma reached into her desk for a pad and pen and began writing out three notes. "Mr. Ross, take these notes to your teachers for your last lessons of the day, then join Mr. Kent and Miss Sullivan in compiling as comprehensive a file as you can on your findings. I will alert the Sheriff to your discovery."

"You're actually letting us run with this?" Chloe asked in surprise.

"You have made the initial discovery, you have a grasp on the current situation. Lives are at stake Miss Sullivan, now is not the time to be playing power games." She warned. "You have work to do. I will check up on you at the beginning of the next period."

* * *

Harry Bolston made the unfortunate mistake of going after Jonathan Kent when he was out of the house. Martha was home but Amara was with her, mainly because Chloe had discovered that Jonathan's grandfather was on the jury that convicted him and each of the former jurors or their families were being watched.

"Pitiful little man." Amara muttered disdainfully as she sent a burst of green light at Bolston causing him to drop to the ground lifelessly.

"Amara! What did you do?" Martha exclaimed.

"She delivered justice to an unrepentant murderer." Came Harry's voice. "Now I will give him final judgement."

Martha watched as Harry's hand reached out and caused a naked ethereal image of an elderly Harry Bolston to appear.

"For your crimes I condemn you to complete and utter annihilation." Harry growled.

The image began to scream silently as it slowly began to disintegrate before their eyes.

Martha was horrified.

"You are the first mortal in this universe to witness me perform my duties as Death." He told her quietly. "Are you going to be ok?"

Martha could only stare at the last place she had seen Harry Bolston's soul.

"I will take her to the castle. Bring Jonathan when he arrives?" Amara asked.

* * *

"Can I get a little help here?!"

Clark and Harry had just arrived at the Retirement Home, as Clark wanted to introduce Harry to Cassandra, as they arrived they heard Lex's distraught call.

"Lex, what happened?" Harry asked.

"Cassandra... she was holding my hand... she just... died."

"Stay with Lex." Harry ordered Clark as it was clear Lex was fairly shaken up.

Harry rushed into the room and knew with a glance that Cassandra was dead. Mainly because he could see her soul standing next to her body.

"Congratulations, you have reached the end of this stage of existence." Harry smiled at her. "I am Death, normally I would allow you to pass on to the other side peacefully, but I would like to offer you something else."

Cassandra was seemingly at peace with her death, she had seen it happen after all. But it was still a scary thought to meet Death himself. She had no reason to doubt him as she was obviously dead and this man was conversing with her.

"Our young friend out there, Clark. He needs friends, he considers you a friend and I would like you to be that friend. To that end, I am offering you a fresh new life. I will restore your youth and give you a place and a purpose with my family where you can be a friend to Clark."

Cassandra asked him something only he could hear.

"No, no strings attached. Should the time come, you will be free to leave our company and live out the remainder of this second life. I can't control what happens when you pass over, I only control _when_ you pass over. I'm told there are good things on the other side."

Cassandra spoke and nodded hesitantly.

Harry leaned forward and plucked a hair from her head. "Stay close to me, when we are alone I will rebuild your body."

* * *

"I'm fine Clark, really." Lex assured his younger friend. "I was just shocked, it's not everyday someone nearly dies in your arms."

"I've made it a personal mission to make sure it doesn't happen to me." Clark agreed thinking of when he had Lex's life in his hands at their first meeting.

Lex could only chuckle.

"She's gone. I've alerted the nurses and I'll need to sign off on the death certificate." Harry announced.

"Was she... did she...?"

"She died very peacefully, Clark. Never even knew it happened."

"He's right, even I didn't realise she had gone until she didn't respond and she was holding my hand the entire time."

"No... she knew... she told me someone close to me would die... she was right."

"Just because someone tells you the future, it doesn't mean you are obligated to make it happen. Some glimpses, like Cassandra's death, are beyond the control of mortal man. Others should be considered gifts to give us hope or the chance to make things better."

"You believe she was a seer, Harry?" Lex asked.

"Oh yes." Harry said with certainty. "She gave Clark enough to prove that. But fate is not written in stone."

* * *

Harry ordered Clark to drive Lex home and he ordered Lex to comply. This left him to sign off on Cassandra's death and then get back home.

"Harry? Where's Clark?" Martha asked. As the triplets all ran up to hug him.

"Cassandra passed away, Lex was there when she went and it shook him up so I asked Clark to drive him home."

"Oh dear, is Clark ok?" Martha asked.

"He will be. Especially as I brought him home a new friend." Harry smirked as he reached out a hand and caused Cassandra's soul to become visible.

"Harry, I don't think Miss Cassandra is quite as comfortable with nudity as Emma is." Scott commented with averted eyes.

Cassandra was covering her body as souls are naked and she was displaying hers.

"Oops, sorry." Harry said as he removed his hand. "I'll just build your body." He told the thin air.

"..."

"Yes, yes! Complete with clothes!"

"..."

"Sorry, I'm the only one who can do this, not because I'm Death, it's a whole other aspect of being me."

"..."

"Ha! I am far older than I look young lady. I'm older than humanity."

"..."

"I've seen plenty of naked bodies, Cassie. I am also a licensed doctor."

"..."

"Fine! Here!" He huffed as he conjured a privacy screen.

Martha and the others looked on as Harry appeared to have a conversation with no one.

"..."

"I'm going to create the clothes as I create your body! Speaking of which, Martha, are you squeamish? You are going to see all of her internal anatomy."

Martha shook herself as she realised Harry was talking to her. "I think I'll be fine."

Harry just went back to work and Martha watched whilst he created Cassandra's new body.

When he was finished there was a young blonde woman lying in mid-air.

"Come on, let's get you in there." Harry gestured to the disembodied soul.

A few seconds later and Cassandra was staring in amazement at her youthful body in a conjured mirror.

"Are you sure I haven't been reincarnated or crossed over to heaven?"

"You're alive, Cassie. If you want we can go and see your dead body."

"I can see how she would be confused, Emma does look somewhat angelic." Lorna smirked.

She received a round of disbelieving stares from the other women. "I said 'looks'!"

"Perhaps I should leave, I don't think I should be here if this is your changing room." Cassandra said bashfully.

"Huh?" Harry asked.

"I think she's talking about Emma's outfit... or lack there of." Jean laughed.

"Oh... relax Cassie, Emma has never been fond of clothes and whenever she is home she dresses in as little as possible." Harry assured her as he led her to a seat.

"And I only wear this because Martha is a constant visitor." She remarked with a smirk causing Martha took a little guilty. "Oh relax dear, you are more than welcome here, especially as you allow Dani and Amara to scratch their itches."

"I what?" Martha asked worriedly.

"Farming, Martha. Farming." Jean laughed. "We know that you and Jonathan are not the type to engage in a polyamarous relationship. Dani and Amara think of Jonathan as a little brother and you are their beloved sister-in-law."

"Yes... but for the record, Dani will be looking to try and get Clark to be open to it." Lorna warned.

"So will my girls when they are grown up." Emma said approvingly.

"Clark? Dating more than one girl at a time?" Martha laughed. "He has enough trouble even _talking_ to Lana!"

"Yes, but he has eternity to learn."

Martha sobered at that thought.

* * *

Explaining Cassandra to Clark and Jonathan was a step further in proving Harry was Death. Clark wanted to believe but Jonathan disliked the idea. He thought Harry was a great person, but he had issues trying to comprehend that all that power belonged to a single person. In his book the more power a person had the more corrupt they became.

"I guess there isn't any denying that you are Death." Jonathan sighed.

"Well... you can deny it... you'll just be wrong." Laura teased as she had joined them with Scott.

"Does this mean you'll accept Harry's gift of magic?" Dani asked excitedly from Jonathan's left.

"Why are you so eager for us to become magicals?" Martha asked from his right, Amara on her right.

"I just guess it will feel like you truly accept us." She said as she let her hair fall to hide her face.

Jonathan smiled at her softly and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Look, accept the gift of magic. Other than the initial lessons on how to use it you don't have to ever worry about it. At least it will give you a method of defence if you are attacked again." Scott offered.

Jonathan nodded slowly, his eyes lowered in thought. "Ok. I would be a fool not to take any chance to defend my family."


	5. Chapter 5

"Doctor Potter? Are you in?"

Harry's head poked around the privacy curtain to see Lana Lang at his door. "Just Harry, Lana. You're a friend and we see each other enough that you can call me that."

Lana smiled bashfully. "Sorry, I just thought as we were in school."

"Nah." Harry said with a dismissive wave. "The only ones I make call me Doctor Potter are the jerks and stalkers."

"Stalkers?"

"Felice Chandler and a few of the other girls keep coming here with complaints of 'tight chests' and 'pains in their thighs' that they want me to 'look' at." He rolled his eyes.

Lana just laughed. "They obviously think you are a Prince Charming."

"I'm really not. I'm just a Saw Bones with a job to do."

"And a large sum of money and a castle... I think the only thing missing is the land to rule, but I guess you do own the land the castle sits on."

Harry's face fell. "Holy crap." He whispered.

Lana just laughed harder.

"Harry? Everything ok?" Clark asked as he came in. "Oh, hi Lana, I heard female laughter and thought Harry might... well, he has this problem with..."

"Stalkers?" Lana laughed.

"You met one?" Clark smiled, he always enjoyed watching Lana smile and laugh... seeing Harry speechless was also fun.

"No, he was just explaining how he wasn't a prince charming. How he doesn't have the money, castle or land... oh wait he does!" She started laughing again.

Clark smiled wider as he realised what she was saying. "You know what's worse? He actually does tend to save the princesses."

"Laugh it up farm boy. You save just as many as I do." Harry glared. "Your dad already owns the land, you keep this up and I'll force some money on him and build him a castle and then you can be the prince!"

"You do already save the princesses, Clark." Lana mimicked him.

Clark turned slightly red as the tables were turned on him. "Erm... so... Lana! What brings you to the medical office?"

Lana and Clark ignored the muttered "Chicken" from Harry.

"My birthday party." She said with pleased smile as she produced a series of envelopes. "I was hoping you and the girls could come." She said as she handed them to Harry. "I thought I would give them all to you. The invite is for the residents of the castle as I wasn't sure how many of you there were and I wanted to invite Principal Frost but didn't feel right handing it to her.

"Oh, tell her I understand if she can't attend but it will be fairly upscale. Lex is hosting it at his house."

"Wow. Thanks Lana. The girls will be thrilled, they haven't been to a party in ages." Harry smiled. "If you need any help be sure to ask... we'll send Clark over straight away."

"What? Why me?"

"Because for this party you're the designated hero and she's the princess!" Harry grinned evilly.

* * *

The rest of the week leading up to the party on the weekend was nice and quiet. Harry was actually bored. The closest he came to excitement was when he noticed that one girl had lost a severe amount of weight. He had intended to call her to his office but was sidetracked when Clark found Dustin beneath the bleachers with all his fat sucked out. Harry had fixed him up and sent him away with his mind modified but warned Clark to be on the look out.

Harry decided to forgo his evening of tossing Clark from the tower to make a house call on Jodi Melville the girl with the weight loss that worried him.

"Mr. Melville, I'm Doctor Potter from Smallville High School. I was hoping I could come in and talk to you and your daughter."

"Is something wrong?" He asked worriedly.

"I sincerely hope not but I am worried about some things I've seen over the past few days and I am worried about Jodi's health."

"Do you have some ID?"

Harry pulled out his wallet. "You can verify me through the Smallville Medical Centre."

Within a couple of minutes Harry and Mr. Melville were outside the bathroom door.

"Jodi, Sweetheart? Doctor Potter just wants to talk."

"I'm fine Daddy, honestly."

Both Harry and Mr. Melville frowned at the almost plaintive tone in her voice.

"With your permission I'd like to open this door." Harry requested, as he looked him straight in the eye.

Mr. Melville took a deep stabilizing breath and then nodded.

"Jodi, we're coming in." Harry warned as he unlocked the door with magic.

"No! I'm-"

But they were in and it was clear she had lost even more weight and was in extreme trouble as empty food wrappers surrounded her.

"Jodi! What happened?" Mr. Melville said worriedly as he knelt by his distraught daughter.

Jodi began to cry. "I don't know Daddy, I just lost all this weight and I am always hungry."

Harry who had been on his phone knelt on her other side.

"Jodi, did you attack Dustin today?"

"I didn't mean too! I just couldn't stop myself." She cried harder as she felt shame for how she had used her body and what she had done.

"Relax, Jodi. I'm gonna have you fixed up in time for the party tomorrow." Harry assured her.

"You know what's happening to her?"

"Her metabolism has increased exponentially and it is causing her to burn up whatever fat and energy reserves she has, hence her drastic weight loss."

"Oh god."

"That was the good news." Harry scoffed. "The bad news is she has likely been infected by meteorite poisoning and it has mutated her to compensate, which is why she was able to drain Dustin's body fat."

"And a deer." Jodi sobbed.

"And a deer." Harry repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"So hungry, so hungry, so hunggGGGRRRYYYY!" Jodi suddenly lunged at her father as her jaw unhinged.

Harry charged his hand with a stunner knocking her out.

"It's ok, she's safe." Harry assured the terrified man.

"Are you sure that's my daughter?" He asked.

"Yeah, like I said, it's those damned meteorites."

"There are meteorite rocks in the soil, I try to remove them, but Jodi decided to go on a diet and only eat the vegetables we grew."

"I have some friends coming over who will help you sort that out."

"Harry?"

"In here Jean."

The red head arrived with Jonathan and Martha in tow.

"Nathan, come on let's let the Docs do their thing." Jonathan said as he led Mr. Melville out of the bathroom.

"Please, Doctor, she's all I have left." Nathan pleaded.

"Relax, she'll be fine, I promise."

"How do you want to handle this, Harry?" Jean asked.

"I'm going to have to build her a new body. She is permeated with meteorite energy." Harry sighed. "I'm going to give her a healthy body but you will have a new patient as she has body image issues."

* * *

"Jonathan, a word?" Harry called the eldest Kent aside as Jean explained that Jodi was fine now.

"Everything go ok?"

"Jodi is as healthy as a young girl should be." Harry assured him. "Mr. Melville, I get a good reading off of him. His soul is good and I saw nothing but love for his daughter. I was considering bringing him into the magical world."

"Nate's a good man, but I'm not the best person to ask about these things, I still have to fight the urge to hide things from you." Jonathan chuckled nervously.

"Nah, you answered my question, you said he's a good man. That's all I needed to know."

* * *

"Lana, where's Whitney?" Harry asked as he approached the birthday girl at her party.

"He had an interview at Kansas State." She smiled.

"Hmm, I get the feeling you aren't really into this whole fancy party thing." Harry laughed; he was dressed in a smart suit and tie and felt very uncomfortable.

"As I told Clark, Lex _and_ Whitney, this party is more for Nell than it is for me."

"Ah... you're a good girl Lana, happy birthday."

"Thank you Harry, and thank you for your gift."

Harry nearly choked. "Oh god, I hate to have to tell you this but I never buy gifts... especially for girls, I pay for them, but never pick them out. I have had far too many inappropriate experiences. So Dani and the girls picked out whatever you got. Maybe Laura."

"So you chickened out?"

"Fine, I chickened out." Harry sighed as Lana laughed at him. "Where's Clark? He's supposed to be your designated hero."

"I think he actually got scared by all the attention that standing next to me was getting him." She laughed.

"That or I was getting you a fresh drink." Came the amused voice of Clark Kent.

Lana turned and accepted the drink.

"You're lying your head off." Harry said with narrowed eyes but a smile playing at his lips.

"Shut up Harry, it's a surprise." Clark muttered out the side of his mouth.

"It better be or I'll have Brunhilde kick your ass."

"Harry, good to see you!" Lex greeted as he came up.

"Nice shindig you have here." Harry smiled as he shook hands.

"Thanks, but all I did is offer up the location, Nell Potter did the work. How about you, Lana, are you enjoying your party?"

"As per previous statements, this is more Nell's party, but I'm enjoying it." She smiled.

"Nell might be the one arranging it and putting the enthusiasm into it but remember, she's doing it for you, she wants to make this a night to remember for you." Lex said pointedly, Harry and Clark nodded.

"I guess I should go and spend some time with her, shouldn't I." She said slightly embarrassed.

"Just a few minutes, but be sure to regale her with stories of what you did at the party afterwards. That's when she'll need the assurance that she did the right thing and made you happy." Harry advised.

"I'll catch up with you later Lana." Clark assured her, figuring he would give her and her aunt some privacy.

* * *

Jodi Melville returned to school the following Monday relieved and overjoyed. Doctor Potter had healed her and she had had a blast at Lana's party with Pete. She was also bouncing around in excitement as she would be getting magical powers over the summer.

But that was contingent on her being able to keep it a secret.

"Clark! Clark!"

Clark suddenly found himself dragged round a corner by Jodi and his ear dragged down to her mouth.

"I'm getting magical powers!" She whispered excitedly.

Clark just laughed. "I know, I was there remember? Why are you telling me this?"

"I just _had_ to tell someone, but it's a secret, but you already know, so you can be my outlet!" She grinned happily.

Clark just laughed, it was good to see her so happy. "You know Harry should be in his office-"

"Bye Clark!" Was all he got as she headed off to bug her saviour.

* * *

"I think Jodi is wearing me out." Pete sighed as he slumped tiredly into a cafeteria chair.

"Trouble in paradise?" Chloe teased.

"No... but paradise needs a good nap."

"She'll calm down eventually." Clark assured him.

"How do you know?" Chloe asked suspiciously.

"Um... wishful thinking?"

"Go on, tell them." They were startled by the sudden appearance of Harry and Jodi. Both were smiling.

"I'm getting a brand new wardrobe!"

"That's what has you so excited?" Chloe asked not quite believing her.

"Well she lost all that weight, at the moment she is wearing whatever we can scrounge up at the castle for her, so I am sending her to Metropolis with my friends and they are going to outfit her appropriately." Harry explained.

Harry gave Jodi a friendly wink and a smile and walked away.

"Be right back." Clark said as he chased after him.

"Clark?"

"Did you do something to her? You didn't wipe her memories or something?"

"Nah, she came to me and was bursting to talk about magic. She was worried that she would slip up so I put a charm on her. Every time she wants to talk about magic outside the castle she will start talking about her new wardrobe."

"I'm not sure that's any better." Clark groaned as he realised he was going to be hearing about clothes all the time now.

* * *

"Alright Clark, we've been throwing you off this tower for nearly two months." Harry lectured as Scott stood behind him. "I think it's safe to say you aren't afraid of heights anymore, correct?"

"I guess." Clark agreed. "Does this mean we can stop this now?"

"Nope!" Harry grinned as he bounced on the balls of his feet. "It means we are moving on to stage two. Human Ping Pong!"

"That doesn't sound much better than being thrown off the tower." Clark said worriedly.

* * *

"aaaaaAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH AAAAARRRRGGGggghhhhh aaaaAAARRRGGGHHHH"

"What are they doing now?" Martha asked as seven-year-old Phoebe ran to the window.

"They're throwing Clarkie around!" She giggled causing everyone to run to the window.

Lorna waved a hand making the whole wall transparent.

"Ah yes, Scott mentioned Harry's idea of playing Human Ping Pong with Clark." Emma chuckled.

"Harry is a bad influence on our man." Jean laughed.

* * *

"Don't worry Jonathan, we'll keep Clark in line." Dani assured the farmer.

It was the weekend and Harry was taking everyone to California for a weekend in the sun and fun and excitement for the ten-year-old Cuckoos at Disney Land.

"Clark I trust. You, I'm not so sure about." Jonathan said with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you staying here with Clark?"

"It would seem a bit strange if people thought Clark was managing the whole farm on his own. Even you can't do it. Besides, I'm magical support just in case. Harry will take me out somewhere nice later."

"Uh huh... still not buying-"

"Let's go Jonathan, Dani knows that if she breaks it she can fix it." Martha chided as she teleported next to him.

"That is so much cooler than running everywhere." Clark sighed.

"Harry says it's just a few more years until your body has fully matured, Clark." Martha consoled him. "Now, behave yourselves and try not to start an inter-state incident."

Clark's insulted look was ignored as Martha grabbed her husband and teleported out.

"We are going to have so much fun!" Dani said as she bounced around gleefully.

* * *

The house was packed. There was alcohol everywhere the music was blaring and Clark had already had to save a vase from breaking. Clark was tempted to run all the way to California and his parents just so he wouldn't get the blame.

His sour mood was sweetened slightly as he noticed Lana approaching.

"Clark, I really didn't think this was your style." Lana smiled nervously.

"Oh it's not." He assured her emphatically. "This was _all_ Dani." He scowled.

"I never would have guessed." She said sincerely.

"She's the devil in disguise." Clark growled.

"Relax, it's just a little noise."

***Crash***

"And a little property damage."

***BLEEEEUUUURRRRGGGHHH***

"Ergh... let's go outside." Clark grimaced.

"So where's Whitney?" Clark asked.

"We decided to do different things tonight." She shrugged.

Clark decided not to press.

"How did this happen?" She waved her had indicating the party.

"My parents left." He said dryly.

"And Dani decided to just take advantage of that?"

"I mentioned I had planned to invite you and a few others over for small party, you know, drinks, music, dancing... that's when the chill went down my back."

Lana laughed.

The sound of fireworks startled them and they span around.

"Oh come on Dani! The cops are going to be all over us!" Clark whined as he headed down the porch steps leaving Lana feeling bad for her friend.

"Dani! This is too much!" Clark exclaimed.

"It wasn't me, I swear!"

"This is my gift to you, Clark." Came Lex's voice. "I know a party like this can make or break a young man's reputation. And don't worry about the cops, I spoke to them."

"It's not my reputation I'm worried about, it's my freedom after my parents ground me." Clark grumbled. "_You_ can clean up the vomit in there." He glared at Dani.

"It's only eight o'clock! We have people throwing up already?" Dani asked excitedly. "That's great!" She declared before she skipped off.

"I'm surprised your father can handle that one." Lex laughed.

"How do you mean?"

"I just meant he strikes me as the type to enjoy the quiet life, you are a good and responsible son, but Danielle... if she had been your sister growing up she would have driven him grey."

"She is definitely a handful."

"Clark, you need to come see this." Lana called worriedly as she came running up.

Clark followed Lana into the barn where he found Whitney holding a shivering mound covered by cloth at pitchfork point.

"The whole damned barn was shaking, Kent and then we found this guy." Whitney ground out, clearly scared but not willing to take his eyes off the threat.

Clark cautiously moved forward and pulled off the cover.

"Earl? Earl, what are you doing out here?"

"Clark? Your father, I need to speak to your father."

"He's not here right now... Earl, you look really sick." Clark reached out a hand but drew it back when he felt the painful effects of meteorite rocks.

"Lana, get Dani here now. Whitney, call an ambulance."

* * *

"Mr. Jenkins, I'm Doctor Harry Potter, I'm a friend of the Kents. They asked me to come and help you as best as possible."

"You can't help me, only the Luthors have what I need... I need to get to level 3."

"What is it they have? What is level 3?"

"Lowest level at the plant... experimental crops and fertilizers... was an explosion and I was infected. I can't stop the shakes."

"Ok, wait one second." Harry said as he walked to the door where Jonathan and Clark were waiting. "Clark, get Lex here as fast as you can."

Harry walked back to Earl. "Clark and I are friends with Lex Luthor, he's in charge of the plant now and might be able to help out."

"Humpf, Luthor refused to help, ignored me."

"That was likely Lionel, I'm talking about his son."

Harry was interrupted by a knock at the door; Harry saw that the Sheriff and his deputy were outside.

"Sheriff, what can I do for you?"

"Doctor, we need to take Mr. Jenkins into custody, he's wanted in connection with a murder."

"What? Earl would never do that!" Jonathan objected.

"I can't release him, Sheriff. He is far too sick, I will also need to see any evidence you have as I am fairly certain he isn't mentally culpable at the moment."

"He's copping an insanity plea?" The deputy scoffed.

This irritated him greatly. "No _deputy_, he is in so much fear and pain that he is having trouble thinking, he can only communicate with me in short jilted sentences."

"Harry!"

Harry turned at Jonathan's call to see Earl shaking violently.

"Everyone stay out here." Harry ordered.

Unfortunately none of them complied and they rushed past Harry to restrain him. Earl easily threw Jonathan the Sheriff and his deputy off with his spasms.

Harry stepped forward, not touching him.

"Let it play itself out Earl, it _will_ pass." Harry said as soothingly as he could in a loud voice.

Eventually the spasms and shakes passed and Earl passed out.

Harry rounded on the other people in the room. "Next time the Doctor orders you to stay out you do so!" He snapped. "I think I've made things clear, Sheriff, get me the evidence."

* * *

"Harry, you called for me?" Lex asked as he rushed into the hospital soon after.

"Yes, Mr. Jenkins claims to be a former employee of LuthorCorp. He says he worked on level 3 of the plant and was caught up in an explosion."

"There is no level 3, and no records of any explosions." Lex frowned.

"Could there have been a level 3 and a cover up?" Harry asked. "Mr. Jenkins is being as honest as he can be, at the very least he is beginning to communicate better."

"I've toured the plant, Clark's class is there right now having a tour. There is nothing after level 2, not even on the blueprints."

Harry knew neither man was lying, that meant the truth was hidden... but from whom?

"Come with me."

Harry led him to Earl's room. "Mr. Jenkins this is-"

"Lex Luthor." Earl practically snarled.

"Mr. Jenkins, I can assure you I haven't seen any sign of a level 3 at the plant." Lex said placatingly.

"I believe both of you." Harry interrupted before the conversation could deteriorate. "This means that either Mr. Jenkins is hallucinating or Lex has been lied to."

"I am NOT hallucinating!"

"I hope you're right." Harry said. "What I propose is that the three of us go to the plant and Mr. Jenkins leads us along the path he would take to Level 3, that way we will be able to see where either the truth was hidden or Mr. Jenkins hallucinations begin."

"That's fine by me, but considering Mr. Jenkins clearly agitated mental and physical state, I will need him to be restrained for plant safety." Lex agreed.

* * *

"NO! IT WAS HERE!"

"Easy Earl!" Harry snapped. "What was here?"

"The elevator to level 3!"

"Lex, what do you see?"

"A blank wall." Lex frowned.

"Yes, but look at the location of the wall. It's sitting all alone at the end of an empty corridor. These pipes have to go somewhere." Harry indicated the large red pipes that lined the walls.

"Yes." Lex said slowly. "I see... someone has... wait here, I'll be right back." Lex suddenly started off back the way they came at a jog, his long coat billowing behind him.

"Probably going to get his father to cover it up." Earl growled as he tested his restraints.

"A little faith, Earl, have a little faith."

Earl gave a derisive little snort. "So what happened to 'Mr. Jenkins'?" He smirked.

"It was becoming too much of a mouthful, besides, you can call me Harry, I hate titles." Harry smirked back. "So word has it that you tried to teach young Clark how to play the guitar."

Earl gave a loud and fond laugh. "That boy broke more strings in the year I tried to teach him than I have my whole life!"

"He does have issues with his strength." Harry mused with a smile.

"If I wasn't working there I would swear Jonathan was using steroids and pumping them into his son!"

"Definitely not steroids, but he is very unique." Harry agreed.

They were interrupted by Lex returning with some men, the sight of which caused Earl to tense.

"Relax Earl." Harry said as he put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"That wall, take it down. I want to know what's behind there." Lex ordered.

"Mr. Luthor, the blueprints clearly show that there is nothing behind there." A man in a shirt and tie argued in as respectful manner as he could.

"Gabe, take a look at that wall. Mr. Jenkins remembers coming down here and there being an elevator and as Doctor Potter has astutely pointed out, those pipes have to go somewhere." Lex countered.

Gabe sighed. "Ok, Jackson, check for electrical and pipes then you boys can get to work."

"Gabe Sullivan. Any relation to Chloe Sullivan?" Harry asked as he noticed the man's ID badge.

"My daughter. You are?"

"Doctor Harry Potter, I'm the on site medic for the High School."

"Oh! Yes, Chloe has mentioned you. I have to say it does give us peace of mind to know that our kids are in safe hands. But I have to ask, why would a Doctor want to work in a school?"

"I'm rich, I get bored easily so my friend Principal Frost decided to give me the job to keep me busy." He shrugged.

"From what I hear you spend most of your time avoiding your rabid fan club." Lex smirked.

"I am doubling Clark's training." Harry scowled.

Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of sledgehammers impacting on the brick wall. They soon stopped though.

"Mr. Luthor, Mr. Sullivan, we found something."

Earl made to move forward as the two men rushed forward but Harry held him down gently.

"Bring it down, the whole thing, and someone get some HAZMAT gear here as well." Lex ordered angrily.

"Do we need to evacuate?" Harry asked.

"No, but Gabe, head back up and send the kids home." Lex instructed. "Mr. Jenkins, I apologise, you were right, there is an elevator back there. I'll show you the elevator but I'm not letting you down there until I can be sure it's safe."

"I have experience with dangerous toxins and chemical spills. I can do the initial survey." Harry offered. "I'll sign whatever waivers you need me to." He added as Lex was about to protest.

"Fine, but I'm going with you."

* * *

Aside from a catwalk and a few empty barrels there was nothing on level 3.

"It's safe Lex." Harry reported as he put the sensor equipment down and removed his helmet.

"What the hell were they doing down here?" Lex muttered as he removed his own.

"Probably exactly what Earl said they were."

"But how would that have caused his symptoms, I have _never_ seen a human body move like his has."

"My guess? Meteorite enhanced steroids. They have mutated his body."

"My god." Lex leaned forward against the railing and held his baldhead in his gloved hands. "Can you help him?"

"Probably, it's the fallout from the last few days that will cause the most problems. He's been wanted for murder and a break in."

"I can handle the break in, it was LuthorCorp property and I know it was an accident. I'll also speak on his behalf for the murder charges."

"Good, I can probably have the charges dropped on medical grounds, I can also offer him a job on my farm so that won't be a problem."

"You're the one who bought all that farmland?" Lex asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it was sitting there and I can afford to run it and grow crops so I can send food to third world countries."

"Wow... just how rich are you? LuthorCorp couldn't afford to do that."

"Pretty damned rich." Harry snorted. "Shall we get Earl?"

* * *

After assuring Earl that he could have him better in a few weeks despite not having samples of whatever LuthorCorp used, Harry took him back to the castle where Harry offered the man the gift of magic.

"What about my wife and daughter?" Earl asked.

"Your wife can handle keeping the secret?"

"She's a good woman." Earl stated firmly.

"Then why not? Your daughter can be the youngest magic user I create."

"Is it safe for my daughter?"

"Absolutely, she'll need to be schooled here until she is ready for High School, but by then I will probably have gone public."

So Martha and Jonathan teleported Earl back to see his family and help explain what was on offer. They also needed to acquire clean DNA from Earl's belongings due to the massive amount of meteorite infection in his body.

The population of the castle was growing and much to Jonathan's consternation, so was the number of people who knew Clark's secret. He had to admit that he trusted them to keep Clark's secret but that was because they had secrets of their own.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a few days later that they were all attending an exhibition sponsored by Lex at the Metropolis Museum, Lex had invited the castle residents as well as the Kents and Lana... plus Whitney.

It was obvious that Lex was trying to play matchmaker. Too obvious.

"You have to be more careful, Lex." Harry chided lightly.

"Clark is one of the best things... no, _the_ best thing to have happened to me he saved my life in more ways than he knows. I want to make sure he gets what he rightly deserves." Lex said defensively.

"Yes, but the last thing he needs is Lana being scared off because you were getting too pushy. I already had to warn him that he was bordering on stalker." Harry warned as they watched Clark step outside.

"Lex, I just wanted to thank you for inviting me." Said a handsome Caucasian male with dark hair and eyes. "It is a very exquisite piece." He indicated the jewelled breastplate.

"Bruce, glad you could make it, let me introduce you to Doctor Harry Potter, Harry this is fellow billionaire Bruce Wayne."

"A pleasure to meet you." Harry shook the man's hand politely.

"The same, Doctor."

"Just Harry, please."

"Bruce then... you're from England?"

"Born in Wales, raised in England and educated in Scotland." Harry smiled.

"That's a lot of cultural exposure." Bruce laughed.

"My schooling took place in a castle." Harry grinned.

"Is that why you built yours back in Smallville?" Lex asked.

"Partly, it was the first place I truly called home."

"I was raised in mansions, but I haven't truly called any place home since my mother died." Lex said softly.

"I was lucky, after my parents died, I had Alfred to look after me. He's been like a father to me." Bruce said softly.

Harry snorted as the other two looked to him. "Sorry gentlemen, I lived with my parents till I was one and a half, then they were murdered and I was sent to live with an aunt. I spent the next decade living in a tiny cupboard under the staircase and was only let out to do chores. The owner of my school adopted me and saved me."

Both men looked horrified.

"Relax, it was long enough ago that I got over it." Harry assured them.

"Harry, are you scaring the billionaire club?" Laura asked as she came over. She was dressed in a slinky black dress that hung off the shoulders.

"But it's fun!" Harry mock pouted.

"You were joking?" Bruce frowned.

"He wasn't." Dani scowled as she approached with the others, all done up glamorously.

"Har-"

The sound of a crash outside drew away everyone's attention and they headed for the door.

Seeing the crash Harry immediately headed to the bus, he knew instantly that Clark had stopped the bus by standing in front of it, the Clark-Shaped indent gave it away. He sent out a mental order to Laura to find Clark and check on him.

The driver had clearly collapsed at the wheel.

"We need to get him out of there."

Harry was surprised to hear Bruce Wayne's voice next to him. A quick glance showed Lex and Jonathan there as well.

"Just let me give him a once over. Jonathan, Lex, check for fuel leaks and anything that requires us to rush or clear the area." Harry ordered as he stepped onto the bus with Bruce behind him.

"Hello, can you hear me sir?" Harry asked the elderly bus driver.

"I... I can hear ya lad."

"Try not to move until I can be sure you aren't going to do any more damage to yourself."

"First glance says a heart attack." Bruce muttered.

Harry smiled with mild surprise. "You have training Bruce?"

"My father was a doctor." Bruce admitted.

"Excellent. And I agree, he's not showing signs of a stroke. Can you tell me your name?" He asked the driver as he ran his hands over the mans limbs and neck, it was all for show though, he could tell the man was uninjured beyond having suffered a mild attack.

"Matthew Archer."

"Ok Mr. Archer, from what I can tell it is safe to move you. I want you to rely on my friend Bruce here and myself, try not to do too much of the work yourself."

"Harry, the bus looks safe." Jonathan reported.

"Great, we're about to exit now, Lex can you make sure your people keep everyone back just in case we missed something?"

"Already done, Harry. The emergency services are on their way."

* * *

"Clark, what the hell happened?" Laura demanded as she found Clark back in Smallville.

"I had to stop it, it was going to kill the homeless man!"

"But why did you run off?"

Clark turned around to show her his badly damaged jacket.

"Next time find one of us!" Laura said as she fixed the jacket with a wave of her hand. She then hit him over the head.

"Hey!"

"Next time, just move the homeless man! Hang on, I'm taking us back to Metropolis, you don't need to raise suspicion."

Laura teleported them a few blocks away and they made their way into the park opposite the museum before heading back towards the museum.

"Clark! What happened? We couldn't find you." Martha exclaimed as she was joined by Lana and Lex.

"I was in the park, I didn't know this had happened." Clark lied reasonably well.

"Both of you need to be careful, Metropolis is just like any other city at night, especially the parks, they are usually filled with the worst kind of people." Lex warned, it was clear that they had worried him.

* * *

The following day was a Monday and Emma was sitting in her office waiting patiently. Kwan had been in earlier brandishing the latest copy of the Torch. As far as she was concerned he was rightly enraged by the front-page headline. She had given him her full support to fire Miss Sullivan as editor.

She was now waiting for the angry and upset visit from Chloe.

"Come in."

The door opened and Lana Lang walked in.

"I confess to being slightly surprised, Miss Lang. I had expected Miss Sullivan to come storming in here in all her righteous glory."

"I think she's still in shock." Lana admitted.

"Understandable. Very well, make your case, Miss Lang."

Everyone found Principal Frost to be an intimidating woman. She was stunningly beautiful but aloof and often emotionless. Lana had witnessed her display emotions but they were subdued, she wondered if they would be more exuberant in private.

"I know Chloe can be fairly abrupt and abrasive, but she's a good reporter. Being the editor of the Torch is all she has, like she said it is her identity."

"Tell me Miss Lang, what of the serial killers and rapists? What of the thieves and thugs? Or even simpler and closer to home, what of the bullies in this school, of whom your boyfriend used to be one.

"They would consider what they are, to be their identities, should we accept that and let them continue?"

Lana had a look of disgust on her face. "I really don't think that's the same thing-"

"Why not? You read the article?"

"I haven't had the chance-"

"Then how about the headline? 'Smallville: Mutant Capital of the World.' What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word 'mutant'?"

Lana thought for a moment. In fiction mutants are usually horribly disfigured humans or creatures and are usually aggressive towards innocent 'normals'.

"Dangerous and disfigured people." She sighed.

"Exactly, and I am aware that you are not much of a science fiction fan, but what will the rest of the world think when they see the word 'mutant'? Miss Sullivan has crossed a line; all she has done is set herself up as the progenitor of a possible new wave of hatred and discrimination. It is articles and actions like this that can lead to events like the Holocaust."

"I see your point but..." Lana couldn't think of an argument.

"It gets worse, Miss Lang."

Lana couldn't help the grimace.

"She has printed this article and presented no proof."

"Couldn't she be given a chance to change?" Lana pleaded.

"I agreed to fire her from the position of Editor, she can still work at the Torch, now she must have her work vetted by someone else." Emma paused, a smile crept onto her lips. "I believe _you_ will be an ideal replacement."

"What?!" This was bad, she knew Chloe resented her just for being a Cheerleader, but this would cement that resentment, she had worked hard to try and build a friendship.

"You have a level head and good morals. You haven't found anything to do since you quit Cheerleading, your disastrous stint as a waitress not withstanding, this will look good on your college applications."

"Chloe will hate me!"

"It is not your decision. For the rest of this year at the very least, you are the editor. If Miss Sullivan can show a marked improvement in her writing I will reconsider her application and reinstate her for her senior year as editor."

* * *

It had not been a happy day for Clark. First he had witnessed Chloe being fired as editor. Then Lana had suffered as Chloe blew up at her when Principal Frost appointed Lana as editor. He could understand the Principal's arguments, but it still hurt.

Now something worse had happened.

"He just dropped a generator on you?" Fourteen-year-old Mindee demanded angrily. The triplets had finally reached the point where they remembered who they were.

"Let's go girls." Celeste ordered as they stood up.

"We'll teach him not to mess with our Clark!" Phoebe hissed.

Clark blushed at their possessiveness.

Having returned to the farm to do his chores, a cop named Sam Phelan had confronted him about his powers having witnessed Clark stop the bus in Metropolis. The cop was now blackmailing him.

"As humorous as it would be to witness a seasoned cop taken down by three teenage girls, perhaps you would let Jonathan and myself handle this?" Laura laughed. The Cuckoos where her best friends, they along with Cessily, all those years ago, had taught her how to enjoy and live life.

"Fine, but we are riding shotgun." Mindee pouted.

"Wouldn't it be safer if you stayed here, girls?" Martha asked worriedly. She understood that mentally they were back to being thousands of years old, but she couldn't help see them as the beautiful and happy girls she helped raise.

"Don't worry, we will be in her head, not by her side." Phoebe assured her as she snuggled in next to Martha reassuringly.

* * *

Laura couldn't believe the ego of this cop. Sam Phelan was a bully who wanted power and his badge gave him a foot in the door and he wanted to use Clark to cover up his own crimes. He sat there lecturing Jonathan about how he was all that stood between decent people like Jonathan and the criminal element.

Laura had had enough and she stepped forward from where she was at the bar listening to put an end to this farce.

"You are disgusting piece of filth."

"Hello there sweetheart." Phelan leered. "Why don't you wait by the bar whilst I finish up here and maybe we can go somewhere quieter?"

"I am really going to enjoy turning you over to the Sheriff. Now get up, you can answer for the charges of extortion and anything else we can dig up." Laura ordered.

"You're a cop? You brought a cop?" Phelan laughed.

"I'm no cop, I'm just a friend of the family who wants to keep Clark safe and away from you."

"So you have me arrested... then what? I go on television and tell the world all about little Clark's secret, he'll be in a lab by breakfast."

"What secret?" Laura smirked. "Clark's own doctor will attest to the fact that he is nothing but a growing boy. I really doubt anyone is going to listen to the word of a cop who is under heavy scrutiny by Internal Affairs."

Phelan scowled. This was not going how he had planned.

"Now, stand up and lets go." Laura growled.

Phelan pulled his gun under the table. "How about I shoot Mr. Kent here?"

***Snickt***

Phelan could feel a knife at his back.

"You pull that trigger and I will paralyse you. You will spend the rest of your life taking a shit in a bag." Laura whispered with a hiss.

Phelan smirked, he had the upper hand now that he knew the girl only had a knife. He spun around and grabbed Laura slamming her head into the table.

"Help! Help! I'm being attacked!" Laura cried. She hated playing this role.

Jonathan stepped forward but found a gun pointed at his face, he backed up with his hands raised in surrender.

Phelan's hand was suddenly slapped up and his arm went numb. The gun was pulled from his now useless hand.

Laura twisted from her position with her face held on the table and elbowed Phelan in the face and then snapped a kick at his gut sending him backwards to crash in a heap on the floor.

Next to her Harry stood with Phelan's gun in his hands.

"You fucking bastard!" Phelan raged, he reached for his ankle and pulled his backup weapon.

***BANG***

Phelan slumped with a bullet between his eyes.

"Laura, secure his weapon and check the body. Everybody, take a seat, you all just became witnesses." Harry ordered as he lowered the smoking gun. "The Sheriff will be here momentarily."

Harry then proceeded to strip the gun down to parts before pocketing the magazine. Laura returned with Phelan's backup and did the same.

They then all sat down at the table and waited.

* * *

"I didn't think you were going to kill him." Emma mused as they all gathered in the castle living room.

"I wasn't, but he pulled a weapon on us and I didn't want to expose our true natures so I put an end to the threat." Harry explained.

"How will you explain your turning up at the last minute?" Jonathan asked.

"I told the Sheriff I had arrived for a drink, saw what was happening and intervened. The witness reports will say I seemed to appear out of nowhere. Everyone will fill in the blanks and assume they all missed my entrance due to the drama."

* * *

The following day life returned to what passed for normal, except Lana was attempting figure out how the Torch systems worked and Chloe was no where to be seen.

"Harry, Chloe didn't turn up to school today." Clark rushed into the Doctor's Office.

"You couldn't have told me this between lessons, Clark?"

"Chloe has to be tied to the bed when she's ill, she never misses school."

"Alright, I'll talk to Emma and see if everything is ok." Harry sighed. For any other student they would likely take a wait and see approach, but here in Smallville that simply wasn't a good idea.

* * *

After a call to Gabe Sullivan at the plant it was clear that Chloe was missing. Emma suggested she might be sulking after being fired, but Harry decided to track her down before Clark decided to skip school himself. He had the residents of the Castle begin searching the town and all of the known landmarks.

It was Lorna who found her sitting at the top of a windmill in Chandler's Field gazing at the Metropolis skyline on the horizon.

Lorna decided to climb up and join her after she had mentally alerted everyone that she had found her. She was glad she hadn't worn a skirt today.

"Do I know you?" Chloe asked grumpily as Lorna reached the top and sat next to her.

"No, I'm Lorna Dane, a friend of Clark Kent and Harry Potter. Clark noticed you weren't in school, he went to Harry and he – knowing Clark would skip school if he didn't – instigated this search for you. I was the one who found you."

Chloe wiped her eyes as more tears fell. "Just another secret that Clark Kent keeps from me."

"What secret?" Lorna asked.

"You! He has all these friends and secrets and he hides them from me."

"Well, the first thing you need to ask yourself is: 'Is it his choice to hide things from you?'"

"It's always _his_ choice! Who else's would it be?" Chloe said with frustration.

"How about my choice? What if _I_ didn't want him to tell anyone about me?"

"Why would you want to keep it a secret?"

"That's irrelevant to my point. My point is you are blaming Clark when you don't know if he is simply respecting someone else's wishes. What if Clark knew a deep dark secret of yours? How would you feel if he told me or Harry that secret?"

Chloe frowned.

"You'd be pissed." Lorna continued. "He would have betrayed your trust simply because we asked him to. That is what you are asking him to do."

"So, he's keeping secrets for other people?" She asked.

"You're missing the point." Lorna smiled. "It doesn't matter that he keeps secrets. What matters is that he keeps _your_ secrets and that you respect him for keeping other people's secrets."

"What if they are bad secrets?"

"Then you need to question just how good a friend Clark is. If that is the case then you obviously don't trust him and that makes you a bad friend."

"So I should just ignore the fact that he is keeping secrets?"

"Yes."

Chloe scowled. Secrets where not meant to be kept. They were to be exposed to the harsh light of day.

"I'll tell you what, when you feel comfortable enough to post a schedule of your menstrual cycles in the school and town newspapers, then you can go and chase after everyone else's secrets."

Chloe went bright red. "That's different!"

"Why?"

"Because that is personal and- oh."

"I'm glad you caught on, I was beginning to worry that Clark had a poor choice in friends." Lorna said seriously. "I trust now you are beginning to understand why some secrets are not for you to investigate?"

"I guess... I can see where it might hurt others, but I don't necessarily agree about people having secrets."

"As long as you respect that they do have secrets and that you have no right to try and unveil them you are entitled to your opinions, just be warned that if you do try and poke into their secrets they will likely cut you out of their lives and you will live a cold and solitary existence."

"People have feelings, I'm not completely insensitive." She snorted.

"Good, here's a little bit of motivation for you: If you continue to poke into people's secrets I will reveal to Clark and the entire school your own secret. The one where you have a crush on Clark."

Chloe was horrified.

"Yes, I believe that the threat of that getting out might be suitable enough." Lorna smirked. "Now, let's talk about the real reason you are sitting up here gazing out at the home of the Daily Planet."

"So the gossip has made the rounds already." Chloe sulked.

"You were fired yesterday!" Lorna laughed. "And it's a small town, everybody probably knew by lunchtime yesterday!"

"Just because I printed what nobody wanted to hear."

"Because you printed a story without facts and you were derogatory towards the potential subjects of your story."

"I was not!"

"You called them mutants!"

"It's a scientific word!"

"That is more widely known as a derogatory term. I can't believe that a smart girl like you couldn't think of a better way to word it. I know you did what you did to spark controversy. After all, that's what sells newspapers."

"If that's what newspapers do then why am I being punished for it?"

"You are not a seasoned reporter or editor working for a main stream international news corporation. You are a high school student working for a school newspaper. As such you are required to abide by a set of ethics and morals. If you manage to get a job with The Planet and they let you get away with that crap, then fine. But if you do it at The Torch you'll be kicked out of the paper and possibly the school and Emma will ensure that you never get a recommendation."

"Emma?"

"Principal Frost."

"Pfft, she hates me because I wrote that article about her."

"An article that again had no evidence and was derogatory."

"She wouldn't even give me an interview!"

"Which was her right to decline. You should have taken that as a hint that she didn't _want_ to be on the front page of the papers."

"What does it matter... I've lost my chance. What paper is going to hire me after I got fired."

"Did you even listen to Lana when she told you what Emma ordered?"

"She said Frost appointed her editor."

"I'm guessing you threw a tantrum and stormed off before she could finish." Lorna sighed, she ignored Chloe's protestations. "Emma has stated that Lana will be the editor for a minimum of the rest of this year. If you can show a marked improvement in your writing she will appoint you as editor for at least the senior year."

"I've still been demoted."

"Then prove just what you are made of and work your way back to the top. Lana definitely doesn't want the job."

* * *

Chloe Sullivan returned to the Torch, she wanted to return with a bang but she couldn't figure out how to. So she just turned up and Lana handed her an assignment and she got to work. If nothing else she was still on the front page, but her only true competition was Clark and that pretty much said it all.

An incident at Lex's mansion had Clark coming to Harry for advice. He had witnessed Victoria, Lex's girlfriend, snooping on Lex's computer.

"So she was on the computer and she looked guilty?" Harry asked as he leaned against the barn wall as they talked in the loft.

"Like she had just been caught, should I tell Lex?"

"Do you know if his computer is off limits in anyway?"

"Well it is his."

"Yes, but has he ever told you _not_ to use it?"

"No... but I'm not exactly a computer person. I tried typing my essays once and I had to wait for an hour before it caught up. I also ruined the keyboard."

"Go to Lex and tell him what you saw. If Lex has no problem with her being on his computer then there is no problem to begin with and you worried over nothing. If there is a problem then Lex needs to know."

"I just don't want to ruin things for Lex with his girlfriend." Clark sighed as he sat on the couch in the barn loft.

"If she is snooping around where she shouldn't be then she's not good enough for your friend."

"Is that really my decision to make?"

"No, it's Lex's, but he can't make the decision if he doesn't know the facts."

Clark sighed. "There was something weird that happened that night. We heard a commotion upstairs, when we went to check we found a ransacked room with the word 'leave' written all over the walls."

Harry just stared at Clark.

Eventually Clark couldn't take it anymore. "What?"

"I can't believe you've become so jaded by the weird stuff in this town that you worry more over telling Lex about his snooping girlfriend than you do about the creepy intruder in his house."

* * *

"So Lex, I hear you have creepy intruders in your house!" Harry grinned as he entered the Mansion with Clark.

"Personally I just call him 'Dad'." Lex smirked back.

"Ah... not a good day then."

"Have you met my father, Harry?" He asked as he lined up a shot on the pool table.

"Haven't had the pleasure."

"You will never have 'the pleasure'." Lex scoffed.

"Clark here has something to tell you."

Clark looked completely betrayed.

"Well, at least I know that you will always have my back Harry, so you can push me into the line of fire." Lex laughed.

"Come on, Clark, honesty is always best."

Lex frowned and put his queue on the table. "What is it Clark? You know you can talk to me."

Clark shuffled uncomfortably. "I was looking for your lost watch in the library and I saw Victoria on your computer."

Lex gave a small smile. "I'm sorry you were put in that position Clark, but I'm glad to know you were looking out for me. Rest assured that very little happens in this house that I don't know about. Trust me, all is in hand."

"See... and honesty wins the day." Harry said with a grandiose hand gesture.

"Then... should I tell Lana about Whitney's dad?" Clark asked, deciding to trust his friends some more.

"What about him?" Lex asked.

"His dad has major heart problems and as a result Whitney is cutting Lana out and she is getting hurt by it."

"No, you should not tell Lana." Harry said adamantly.

It was clear from the look on Clark's face that he was not expecting that response from Harry.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Well... it's just that you just said honesty is the way to go, I would have expected Lex to tell me not to tell Lana so that she would break up with him... sorry Lex, but you do seem to enjoy playing the devil on my shoulder when it comes to Lana."

Lex just laughed and retrieved his pool cue. "Lana is with Whitney for the wrong reasons. Their relationship is based on social status, they are both attractive and were well placed in the school hierarchy. I'm just trying to get Lana to follow her heart."

"It's true, like I told you, she has feelings for you." Harry agreed. "Actually, she's pretty much fallen in love with you but she is afraid to take action and end it with Whitney."

"Oh. Is there anyway to help her?" Clark as his heart soared at this new revelation.

"Not for us, but she will have friends who can help her."

"So, Harry, why shouldn't Clark tell Lana about Whitney's dad?" Lex asked as he redirected the conversation.

"Because it is private information that you yourself, Clark, shouldn't know. Lex and I won't tell anyone because you are here confiding in us."

"So there is nothing we can do for them?"

Lex laughed softly as he lined up a shot. "Such a boy scout, Clark. That's what I like about you."

Harry smiled at Clark's perturbed look but continued. "All you can do is support Whitney and encourage him to talk to Lana. Also encourage Lana to confront Whitney about what is bothering him."

"I guess this makes Harry the angel on your shoulder." Lex smirked.

"Did you hear that?" Clark asked suddenly as he looked at the ceiling.

"No, what?" Lex asked.

"I thought I heard something from upstairs."

"Let's check it out, if Clark can hear it from down here it must be loud or heavy upstairs." Harry suggested.

"Victoria." Lex said with a hint of worry.

Clark took that to mean she might be in trouble and ran off at regular speed.

Lex and Harry soon followed.

They arrived to find Clark lifting Victoria naked and seemingly unconscious from the old fashioned bath. Harry moved forward and made a show of checking her pulse.

"Light compressions to the chest Clark, Lex, call an ambulance." Harry ordered as Clark finished covering her with a nearby gown.

Soon Victoria began to cough and breathe as Harry and Clark worked to put air back in her lungs.

"Ok, she's good." Harry sighed. "I'll go and meet the ambulance."

As Harry was leaving he snaked his hand out and zapped the nearby soul he could see. Back in the Castle dungeons a new cell was activated and a perturbed Jean spent a full minute trying to figure out what was going on until she mentally scanned the cell.

* * *

With Victoria headed to Metropolis to recover, Harry left the invisible Jeff Palmer, Victoria's attacker, in the hands of Jean and Lorna. They would discover how and why the teenager had attacked Victoria.

The next day was still a school day and Harry was acting as a supervisor for Lana's current project.

"Lana, how goes your blood drive?" Harry asked as he approached the booth she had set up.

"Pretty good. Just have a few people to convince. Speak of the devil!" She smiled as Clark approached.

"Not my usual nickname... but I'll give it a shot." Clark laughed.

"Blood drive, Clark. You haven't signed up." Lana said pointedly.

"Ah... um... you see... " Clark looked to Harry for help.

"Hell no! I'm enjoying seeing you squirm." Harry grinned wickedly.

"Come on Clark! Surely you aren't afraid of a little needle?" Lana teased.

"No! Needles hold no fear for me." He said with mock bravado. He got a sudden light in his eyes. "In fact, needles fear me!"

Harry just laughed. "Excellent Clark, you recovered well." He turned to Lana. "As his doctor I can't allow him to give blood. He has medical reasons, but none of them make him dangerous or contagious, just that his blood is useless for donations."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that Clark." Lana said with a hint of sadness.

"His blood maybe worthless but his time is as valuable as gold. As such, he can make it up by helping you organise things." Harry declared as he gave Clark a slap on the back and strolled away.

* * *

After talking with Lex at the Beanery after school and seeing Lex's missing watch on Amy's wrist with his X-Ray vision, Clark headed over to the Luthor Mansion to inform Lex of what he had discovered. Being a snitch was not something he enjoyed. But a crime had been committed and that watch was dear to Lex as it was a gift from his late mother.

"Are you sure about this, Clark?" Lex asked as they stood outside the Palmer's residence on the Luthor grounds.

"I can promise you she had the watch on, I just can't promise where it is now." Clark assured him.

"Ok, well... if it's gotten this far it needs to be dealt with." He really hoped Clark was wrong, it had taken a lot of convincing to get the Palmers to move with him.

Lex knocked on the door and they were greeted by Mrs. Palmer. "Mr. Luthor, is there a problem?" She asked worriedly.

"I wish there wasn't, but I'm afraid there might be, Mrs. Palmer. I would like your permission to search Amy's belongings, we believe she may have taken my watch."

Mrs. Palmer was flabbergasted.

"We promise to try and be respectful." Clark added.

"Wha- no, of course please come in." She said quickly. She was having trouble believing this but she knew how her children felt.

Lex and Clark swiftly and carefully moved through the house.

Mrs. Palmer was called away by another knock on the door.

"Dr. Potter, are you looking for Mr. Luthor?"

"Not specifically, I was actually doing some investigating into the attack last night. I found some blood drops and tracked them... well, to here." He said indicating the nearby blood he had planted that morning.

After discovering that Jeff Palmer, Amy's brother, was not a meteorite infected, they delved deeper and discovered the secret to his invisibility. He had been using a plant that was affected by meteorites, the oil it produced was able to make him invisible when applied to the skin. Early in the morning Scott, Laura and Lorna infiltrated the Luthor greenhouses and carefully removed all references to and traces of the oil that Jeff used to become invisible.

Emma erased the memories from Jeff of the oil but left the attacks in place. He would still need to answer for his crimes but the castle residents felt he was not within their remit as he was not a super-powered individual. Harry's purpose at the Palmer's residence was to ensure that Jeff was taken in and received whatever punishment or help he needed. Jeff had been returned to his bed none the wiser of his sojourn in the castle dungeons.

"Oh good lord." Mrs. Palmer began to cry.

"Easy now, I could be wrong. Why don't we go and make sure before we start imagining the worst?" Harry said soothingly as he led her inside.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" Clark asked.

"Tracking the blood drops I found from the attack."

"This is not good." Lex sighed. "I'll go and put some tea on."

"Please let me-"

"I can handle a cup of tea." Lex assured her.

Clark explained that they found the watch that had gone missing, they had found a shrine of Lex in Amy's room which had other stolen items from the Mansion. Harry was fairly unsurprised as he already thought the crush from Amy was obvious.

They eventually sent Mrs. Palmer upstairs for a nap whilst the three men waited for Amy and Jeff to return home.

The guilt was clear to see, the panic set in and they had to subdue Jeff while Amy slumped to the floor and cried. It was not a good day.

* * *

"That was a lot of blood." Clark sighed as he and Harry sat in the barn loft.

"Unfortunately I have seen a lot more." Harry remarked. "But at least this blood was spilt for truly noble purposes." They had just finished the blood drive and were relaxing for the day.

"You've been in a lot of wars?"

"Usually only to end them." Harry explained. "Once the world knew about me I would step in and force a cessation of hostilities in the most bloodless way possible."

"You killed a lot of people, though to do it?" Clark asked sadly.

"I could usually end a war by capturing or killing less than twenty people." Harry said with a hint of pride.

"You didn't torture them did you?"

"Nah, but once you take out the leaders and assume control, the rest tend to fall in line. You do have to smack down the loudest protestors to set an example, but as long as you don't over do it you can sort things out easily enough."

They sat in silence for a bit.

"I see you told Lana and Whitney to talk to each other." Harry said as he indicated the house in the distance.

"Oh?"

"I can see them on the porch talking. Well... mostly talking."

"Yeah, I just hope I haven't forced Lana into committing to him out of obligation."

"Mr. Fordman will be home by end of the week." Harry stated. "I went down to Metropolis and healed a few people."

"Only a few?"

Harry laughed. "When I was fifteen my godfather was appointed the leader of the British Magical World by Her Majesty the Queen. I went to the local magical hospital one night and healed everyone. The next day he calls me to his office and lays into me."

"Why?"

"Because my good intentions had nearly sparked mass panic as people thought the apocalypse was coming or the second coming of Christ."

"Oh." Clark said slightly surprised. Clark then had a thought. "Is there a God?"

Harry sighed. "Clark, I am the most powerful being I have ever met. But I do believe there is someone or something out there that is above me. I just don't know what and haven't had the pleasure of meeting it."

"But you've met gods?"

"Yes. Norse and Greek gods. Like Odin and Zeus, but they weren't anywhere near my level. Some had more power than me, but I still had command over their souls and that put me above them in the hierarchy. Brunhilde is a step below a god as are two of our children."

"I wonder if we have gods in this universe." Clark mused quietly.

Harry just smirked as he put another notch in his mental checklist for Clark being a god.


	7. Chapter 7

A few days later Lex turned up at the Kent Farm early one morning.

"Lex, what are you doing here?" Clark asked with a friendly smile.

"I came to talk to your parents."

"Lex." Jonathan tried for neutrality but the negative feelings were still there.

"I just wanted to warn you that a man named Bob Rickman is in town. He was holding a reception yesterday and told me he was going to buy the Kent Farm."

Jonathan laughed. "This farm has been in my family for a long time, I wouldn't sell it for any money."

"He always seemed to get what he wants, I just wanted you to be aware of what might be heading your way."

"Well, thanks for the heads up." Jonathan said sincerely.

"So Clark how's Lana? I heard she took a fall off her horse yesterday."

"Ugh! And now Nell Potter is trying to pressure Clark into telling stories about Kyle Tippet just to get him arrested." Martha groaned.

"Something I would assume Clark is very reluctant to do." Lex nodded.

"It looked like an accident." Clark said. "He was trying to wake Lana up when I arrived, he didn't try and fight me he just ran off. I think I scared him."

"Big man like you would scare me." Lex smirked.

* * *

Later that day Dani returned to the barn with two cups of coffee to hear an unknown male voice.

"Well Mr. Kent, it's been a pleasure doing business with you."

She saw the owner of the voice shake Jonathan's hand and then walk off giving Dani a wink and a smile as he left.

"Jonathan, who was that?" Dani asked. "Jonathan?"

When he didn't respond she conjured a table to put the cups on and shook his shoulder.

"Dani? When did you come in?"

"Just now, you were talking to that man, he said something about business."

"Oh... I- I think I sold the farm." He said weakly.

"What?! You said you would never do that!"

"I don't know what happened. One minute I was sending him away, the next I'm signing over my farm."

"Give me the contract."

"The what?"

Dani sighed in exasperation and ripped the papers from his hand.

"Oh... the contract."

"Dani? What's going on?" Martha asked as she teleported in with Amara at Dani's mental call.

"Big John over here just sold the farm." Dani spat. She shoved the contract at Amara. "See if you can't get him out of this, I'm taking him to Jean." She grabbed Jonathan and vanished.

Amara shook her head sadly. "You might as well join them, I'm going to need some time to go over this."

"I used to work in the corporate world, Amara, I might be of some use." Martha assured her.

"Thank goodness." She smiled as she duplicated the contract and handed a copy to Martha.

* * *

Clark Kent, the star quarterback for the Smallville Crows, was sitting in the cafeteria about to bite into his sandwich when someone kissed his cheek.

Then another kiss.

And then another.

Clark sat there frozen, sandwich sitting just over his teeth. He slowly removed the sandwich. Placed it on the table and turned around.

There in front of him stood three incredibly stunning identical blondes dressed in white blouses and short plaid skirts.

Unfortunately the rest of the cafeteria was gawping at what had just happened as well.

"What are you three doing here?" Clark asked cautiously.

"We are here for our orientation and tour of the school." Phoebe said primly.

"We spent the morning with Principal Frost." Mindee informed him in the same manner.

Celeste slid onto his lap and wrapped her arms around a suddenly very skittish Clark Kent's neck. "And now we are here for our tour with our very own personal and _private_ tour guide." She said huskily.

"If you keep this up you'll have us expelled on your first day!" Clark hissed out the corner of his mouth.

"We're just making a good first impression." Phoebe smirked as she sat on his left and wrapped an arm around him.

"On who? We've already met! I've changed your diapers! You can't make more of an impression! You vomited on me!"

"Not to you darling, to the school." Mindee giggled as she assumed a similar pose on his right.

"And you are not to mention the vomit again... it was your fault for spinning me." Celeste pouted as she gave a little twist of her hips that caused Clark to squeak.

"Girls, whilst there are no explicit rules about public displays of affection, please try and avoid from making scenes that bring the whole school to screeching halt." Harry's voice was like the sound of an angel to Clark.

"See, maybe we should-"

"See you later girls, don't break him."

"Harry!"

"Yes?" He stopped and looked at Clark in askance.

"Aren't you going to say anything else?" Clark practically begged.

Harry tapped his chin in thought. "Oh yes, Laura wants to see you three after school for cheerleading practice."

* * *

"So you're Lana Lang."

Lana looked up from her book to see the triplets standing in front of her. She hadn't been in the cafeteria at the start of lunch so she didn't see the commotion they caused, she had heard through the final lessons of the day about how much of a player Clark Kent must be.

"Erm... hi, do I know you?" Their attitude was a little harsh and Lana was worried she was about to be threatened by the next generation of Queen Bees.

"Not yet, but we intend to make sure you do."

"Did I do something to offend you?"

"Absolutely!" The middle one said.

"You quit cheerleading!" The left one spat.

"You chose that bully over Clark Kent!" The right one pouted.

"I'm sorry?" Lana asked.

"Pfft." The left one said dismissively.

"Sorry won't cut it sister." Said the right one.

"You're just going to have to sign up for cheerleading again." The middle one declared with a sudden happy grin.

The next thing she knew two of them had her arms whilst the third carried her bag and they marched her to Laura Kinney's office.

* * *

"Seriously Clark, I thought we were friends!"

"We are Pete!"

"Then how could you not introduce me to those _extremely_ fine specimens of womanly goodness?!"

"Hey!" Chloe objected as she hit Pete hard in the shoulder.

"What? I'm sorry but it's true. I know he's the star quarterback now but still, how did you score the holy trifector?"

"I didn't 'score' the trifector." Clark rolled his eyes. "I knew them for a few days, they went away and... apparently they are now back to complicate my life further." He frowned.

Pete just snorted. "If that's what you call a complication then I have been seriously misinformed."

* * *

Lana had no idea how she wound up on the field in a spare uniform with pom-poms in her hands, but here she was. She had to admit it did feel good.

"Come on Lana, show us what we need to know." Mindee urged.

"I don't know, I'm not a cheerleader anymore."

"The uniform says different." Celeste giggled.

"Girls, did you actually let Lana speak at all whilst you put that uniform on her?"

The triplets looked affronted as they turned to face Laura who had just arrived.

"Of course!" They chorused.

"Lana, is this true?"

"I-I-I-"

"If she can't answer then you clearly used too much _influence_."

"We just bamboozled her." Celeste sighed.

"We didn't give her a chance to think, that was all." Phoebe explained.

Laura knew that her friends could confuse even Harry with their shared speech, sultry moves and general intelligence. They did it often enough to her. It was how she wound up being the one 'volunteered' to be the female coach.

And that was before they used their mind powers.

"You three! Over there and start stretching!" Laura snapped.

She led Lana a few steps away.

"Lana, what do you want to do?"

* * *

"I'm afraid I only have bad news." Amara sighed as she Dani, Jean, Martha and Jonathan sat in the Kent's kitchen. "The contract is valid. Kansas doesn't have a Buyer's Remorse or Cooling Off Period for real estate so we can't use those."

"We're going to lose the farm?" Martha's hand flew to her mouth in horror.

"No. Although the contract is legal, Jonathan was not in his right mind when he sold it." Jean assured her.

"So we can still fight this legally?" Jonathan asked.

"We could, but we won't." She answered causing the look of despair to deepen on Martha's face. "Jonathan's memories show me that Rickman is meteor infected. He used his powers to get what he wanted, as of now, Harry owns everything he ever had, he will sign the farm back over to you and return all the other properties he obtained this way."

"What will happen to Rickman?" Jonathan asked, now the fear was leaving him it was being replaced by anger at being manipulated and cheated.

"He's dead." Dani shrugged nonchalantly.

"Dead!?" Martha exclaimed.

"Man like him, with the power to make people do what he wants and a disregard for the freedoms or others... what do you think he does when someone gets in his way? Or he sees a woman he wants? Harry has a low tolerance for murderers and none for rapists."

* * *

The following day Clark walked into the Beanery to see Lana and Whitney there. The cold shoulder he received was disheartening, but it didn't go unobserved. As he left, Laura, who had witnessed the conversation approached the couple and sat down.

"Disappointing, Lana." She said sadly.

"He refuses to do anything about Tippet!" Whitney defended his girlfriend.

"What should he be doing?"

"Telling the truth for a start." Lana sulked.

"So what is the truth?"

"That Kyle spooked her horse and attacked Lana."

"And that is what you remember, Lana?"

"Of course it is!"

"Fordman, perhaps you should keep your mouth shut and cool down." Laura snapped. "If Kyle Tippet goes to court then Lana will have to testify. If she can't answer my questions now then how will she handle a pushy lawyer?

"Now, Lana, what do you remember?"

Lana hesitated, but then closed her eyes. "I remember waking up and Clark leaning over me."

"Did you remember seeing Tippet at all?"

"No."

"Clark told you Tippet was there, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"You told your aunt?"

"Yes."

"And how long did she spend that night ranting about the weird and dangerous man that is Kyle Tippet?"

Lana sighed. "Quite a while."

"What does that matter?" Whitney demanded.

"Because it means that I am channelling my aunt."

"And disrespecting Clark, someone you know would defend you in a heartbeat." Laura said as she stood up and walked back to the counter.

Lana said goodnight to Whitney before making her way home to apologise to Clark. The following morning Kyle Tippet was released from jail.

* * *

Lana had heard of the commotion the three new girls had caused in the cafeteria but this morning was the first time she witnessed it for herself.

She was sitting on the wall outside the school reading a book when she noticed the noise level drop. She looked up to see Clark Kent walk in surrounded by said three girls. Each girl was wearing a very short and light summer dress. _Very_ light.

Two of the girls were draped on either side whilst the third walked slightly ahead.

Lana was stunned... along with the rest of the school.

"Why are you doing this?" Clark hissed.

"Don't you find us attractive?" Mindee pouted from his left.

"Very."

"Good, then consider us your girlfriends." Celeste said with undisguised glee from his right.

"All of you?" Clark asked in confusion.

Phoebe stepped back seamlessly switching out with Celeste. "We may look like three separate girls, Clark, but we are a hive mind. It was why we chose to bond with Harry, he was the only one who could accept all three of us and what that meant. We believe you have that potential as well."

"Lana!" Celeste called out.

Although Clark was relieved when all three girls detached themselves from his person, he suddenly felt very naked.

Clark followed the girls to speak to Lana, he wasn't sure why. He was fairly certain that he should be running as fast as his super speed could take him in the opposite direction.

"Hey Lana." Clark waved weakly.

"Clark... so these are your girlfriends? All of them?" She asked pointedly.

Clark just stood there. He had no idea how to respond.

"We just asked him." Mindee smiled happily.

"He's so handsome." Celeste sighed dreamily.

"And he is the most decent person in the school." Phoebe finished with a firm nod. "We would be fools not to snap him up before someone else does."

Clark started to blush lightly.

"Of course, once you dump Whitney we'll be happy to share, there's more than enough of him to go around." Mindee said with a slight tease.

Clark's eyes widened slightly in shock and fear. "Bye!" And then he was gone as fast as he could without using super-speed.

"You really enjoy teasing him, don't you?" Lana smirked.

"Just a bit." Celeste admitted.

* * *

"Harry! You have to help me!" Clark begged as he rushed into the Doctor's Office.

"Let me guess, she's got blonde hair, blue eyes, telepathic powers and comes in a pack of three." Harry didn't turn around or look up but Clark could hear him smiling.

"Yes! They're making me out to some sort of... I dunno..."

"Sex symbol? Playboy? Casanova? Playa'?" Harry teased as he hopped up on the bed.

"I have no idea... I just know that they are making me very uncomfortable."

"Then ask them to tone it down."

"Ask them?"

"A novel concept I know, but give it a shot." Harry said sarcastically.

* * *

"So Clark, where's your fan club?" Chloe asked.

They were out on a geology trip but the Cuckoos were nowhere in sight.

"They had some extra meetings with the Principal." Clark shrugged.

"What! You're not going to deny that they're your fans?"

"I have decided to let them do what they want, as long as they tone it down around me."

"Those three do not strike me as the type to do what anyone wants."

"They listen to Harry and Laura. Not to mention Coach Summers. They do seem to enjoy riling Principal Frost though." Clark said pondering that last one.

"I can't believe I had to wait till Lana brought them round before I was introduced." Pete groused.

"Considering you could barely pronounce vowels without drooling on them I don't think it really mattered." Chloe scoffed.

They soon had to finish up due to the oncoming storm. Eric Summers, the son of the teacher and no relation to Scott, was missing so Clark offered to find him.

"Eric!" Clark shouted as he watched the boy stand dangerously on the edge of the damn. "ERIC!"

Eric turned and smiled when he saw Clark. He removed his earpiece but a bolt of lightening struck nearby startling Eric causing him to lose his balance and tip over the edge of the damn.

Clark zipped forward and caught his bag. "Hold on!"

As Clark moved his other hand to grab the bag as well a second bolt of lightening fell from the sky and struck Clark in the chest. The pain was agonising but Clark held on as hard as he could. Eventually he was able to work through the pain and pull Eric up.

* * *

Harry was called to the Kent Farm the next morning, it seemed there was a problem with Clark.

"So no strength and no speed?" Harry asked.

"Am I human now?" Clark asked with a hint of hope.

"No, you are still an alien. But you appear to have been drained." Harry mused as he examined Clark.

"He was drained of his powers?" Dani asked. "Like Rogue?"

"I can't say for sure what happened, but I would venture a guess it has to do with the lightning strike yesterday. I will keep an eye on Eric Summers."

"Will Clark ever get his powers back?" Martha asked.

"Oh yeah, I can see his body trying to recharge, but his system appears to be in shock. I can fix that easily enough."

"No wait!" Clark said stepping back. "Maybe this is my chance to be human. To have a normal life."

"It won't last." Harry warned. "They will come back with or without my help."

"Then... think of this as my vacation."

Harry stared at Clark, examining him closely. "I'll let you have this Clark, for now. But I want you to start talking with Jean. You have some pretty deep identity issues that you need to work on. For the time being... I am going to modify the charm on your watch. If you get in trouble, take it off and it will activate a healing rune that will return your powers immediately."

* * *

Having deduced that the lightning strike might have affected Eric Summers as well, Harry and Emma had the Cuckoos watch him and give him a brief scan to find out how badly it had affected him. They had determined that he had received Clark's powers.

"Eric is a snobby little brat."

"All he thinks about is girls."

"But that just means he's a teenager."

Emma sighed. She loved her girls, she really did, but they never seemed to grow up. They claimed it was because they were Phoenixes. But she countered by giving Jean as an example. They usually left after that in a huff.

"Thank you for that very unhelpful report of the obvious, girls. Anything useful you can tell us?" She sent a glare at Harry who was sitting there happily enjoying the byplay.

"He is abused." Phoebe stated flatly.

This made Harry sit up and the smile vanish.

"Nothing like you were, but he does get hit and his father is emotionally abusive and controlling." She added.

"Abuse is abuse." Harry said. "I will call him in and try and remove the powers."

* * *

"Eric, good, you're here."

"Is there a problem, Doc?"

"Yes, you seem to have gotten infected by the meteor rocks yesterday when you were struck by lightning and I need to undo the damage."

"Really? I feel fine."

"Most people do at first. They don't feel too good when the shakes kick in and they start to die."

"Die?"

"Die."

"How do I know you are telling the truth?"

"You don't, but I don't have a reason to lie." Although Harry was lying on this occasion.

"If I start to feel the shakes, I'll come and see you. For now, I have places to be and things to do."

"Sorry Eric. This isn't voluntary."

"I'd like to see you try and stop me."

Harry watched as Eric moved to super-speed and smashed into the door.

Harry had charmed the door as unbreakable.

The door didn't break.

But the walls did.

And the ceiling.

And the floor.

* * *

School had been very interesting. During second period there had been a loud crash and tremors had shook the school. They had been told that it was a distant tremor from an earthquake. Clark had gotten the truth from Harry later.

Not only did Eric have a copy of his powers but he also managed to destroy several of Harry's strongest enchantments. Of course Eric was now out there with the potential to cause untold damage, he was keeping a low profile for now though.

Clark was exhausted. It was now dark out and he was still doing chores and work. He may have super powers, but as far as he was concerned his dad was the strongest man he knew. He was very happy his dad had magic to help him now.

"Clark, still hard at work I see."

He was surprised to see Lex out here so late.

"Lex, I didn't hear you."

"You seem to be hard at work." Lex repeated with a smiled.

"Yeah, I am aching all over." Clark laughed.

Lex hummed.

"Something wrong Lex?"

"Are you sure you told me everything that happened that day on the bridge?"

"This again, Lex?" Clark sighed.

Lex took a forceful step forward. "I have had experts go over the evidence from that day and they checked everything, created realistic computer models and it all points to one incontrovertible fact: I hit you at 60 miles an hour and you somehow managed to not only survive but also peel back the roof of my car like a piece of tin foil."

"Really? _That's_ what you believe? Then go ahead, take this hammer and have at it. If I survived a car at 60 miles an hour than you swinging a hammer should be cake." Clark said angrily.

Lex backed away from the brandished hammer slightly. "That's not what I want Clark."

"Then what do you want? What is it that has you making these stupid accusations?"

"That day changed me Clark! It gave me a new lease on life. All because of you. If it weren't for you then I would have run the plant into the ground just to spite my father. But... it's not what you would do... you would hate me for that and... you hating me actually scares me." Lex gave a weak laugh as he sat on the ground resting back against the fence. "I have this... thing... I don't know what it is but it's nagging at me and I can't ignore it... I just feel that it has to do with you and that day on the bridge."

"I'm just a normal-"

"No Clark."

Both men jumped at the sound of Harry's voice from the shadows.

"Tell him the truth."

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Clark asked warily.

"I'm going to tell him my secret, you should tell him yours." Harry stated firmly as he stepped forward in to the light.

"But-"

"He's your friend Clark. No, he's actually your brother. He cares for you like a brother, watches out for you. But he's hurting and he needs your trust... something that no one has ever given him before."

"What happens when-"

"Take the risk Clark. Making mistakes is not as important as fixing those mistakes. We all make them, it's almost as inevitable as death." Harry chuckled. "The difference between death and mistakes... only I am allowed to reverse death."

Lex remained silent, mainly because he found the whole situation spellbinding. Somehow he knew that his reaction to what happened today would shape the rest of his life. He didn't care about all the talk of death and mistakes, he wanted to make sure that in the future when he looked back on this day... this moment, he could say he did the right thing. He reacted the right way.

Clark sighed. "You promise to protect us?"

"It's why I'm here."

Clark turned and looked Lex straight in the eye. "I arrived on this planet during the meteor storm. I was about three or four years old and I nearly hit Jonathan and Martha's truck. They found me, took me in and adopted me. I am faster than a bullet, more powerful than the entire football team combined and I can take a Ferrari at 60 miles per hour to the hip."

Lex and Clark just stared at each other.

Neither one moved as their eyes remained locked.

"You're an alien."

"Yes."

"Super strong, super fast, super... everything?"

"I have my limitations."

Lex suddenly broke eye contact and let out a breath. "Wow... no wonder you keep it a secret."

Clark frowned, that was not the response he was expecting.

"Did you arrive in a spaceship?"

"Yeeeesss." Clark drawled slowly.

"Do you still have it?"

"Yes."

"How big is it?"

"Lex, maybe you should relax and take a seat. You are doing pretty good at hiding your excitement." Harry laughed.

"That obvious?"

"Yes." Clark answered.

"Does 'yes' mean something special on your planet?" Lex asked suspiciously.

Harry just laughed. "Lex, you are the first person Clark has voluntarily told about his secret. I think he was expecting a different set of reactions."

"You mean he was expecting me to call in my people in black vans and helicopters and every media outlet in the world?"

"He was probably also expecting you to drag a fully equipped autopsy table out of the boot of your car."

"I am not that bad."

The two older men turned to look at Clark. "Yes you are!"

* * *

"Death?"

"Yep." Harry grinned.

"As in the person who will take my soul across the river?"

"Only in literature. I tend to just send souls on to the other side. I've never been there myself."

Lex was, for the first time, sitting in the castle. Everyone was there except Jonathan and Martha. They hadn't been told about Lex's induction in to the group who knew about Clark and Harry's secret.

"And I suppose you are all his Angels of Death?" He asked the assembled women.

"No, most of us are his soul mates." Lorna smiled.

"Most?"

"Myself, Jean and Scott are a separate group of soul mates." Emma explained.

"Aren't you a little old for those three?" He indicated the Cuckoos.

"Lex, I'm approaching twenty million years old... I'm a little old for everyone." Harry said dismissively.

"Wait... I thought you were dating Clark? But you're soul mates with Harry."

"Everyone in this room except you and Clark is over one hundred thousand years old." Laura explained. We've been together a long time and Harry taught us a long time ago that as long as we love a person we can express that love as long as we are honest with all our lovers."

"But we always come back to our Harry." The triplets chorused happily.

"You've never left Harry." Lorna scoffed.

"So when Clark dies you will go back to Harry?"

"Clark won't die." Harry said softly. "Technically he's immortal, he can be killed but it will take a very powerful being to do it."

"Like you?"

"I could do it, but I was referring to someone the same level as his people."

"Do you think there are more like him?"

"Not a clue. I will be investigating later, once I have a handle on Earth's issues first."

Lex sat there for a few moments in silent contemplation.

"Why haven't you told Chloe or Pete?" Lex asked Clark.

"What if they don't trust me or spill my secret to the government or the media?" Clark said earnestly.

"Clark has fairly severe trust issues." Harry explained. "To an extent they are understandable, but years of paranoia have compounded them."

"Not to mention Jonathan's own fears." Dani sighed.

"Ah Jonathan Kent." Lex smiled wistfully. "A good man, even my father will admit that without reserve, but he is very stubborn."

"What are you going to do now, Lex?" Clark asked worriedly.

"Relax Clark. Harry was right, I do think of you as my little brother." Lex smiled reassuringly. "I have a long few days ahead of me as I sanitize my files and mansion of any record of investigating you and the accident."

"Want some help?" Harry offered.

"It might take a while."

"I don't really need to sleep."

"Then the help would be welcome."

* * *

The following day Smallville was abuzz with the news about the new superhero in town. Eric Summers had foiled a purse snatching on Chloe and Pete before throwing the mugger several feet in the air and across the road. The boy had then gone on to give an interview with the town paper.

"Tell me this isn't as bad as I think it is?" Clark begged as he rushed into the Doctor's Office brandishing a copy of the Smallville Ledger.

"It isn't as bad as you think it is."

"Thank god. Wait- are you just saying that because I asked you to?" That was the problem with Harry; he didn't tend to think in straight lines. It was like trying to escape from that M.C. Escher drawing.

Harry just grinned impudently.

Clark was deterred from enquiring further as Harry's phone rang.

"Hey Lex."

"..."

"Clark just came barrelling in here asking about the same thing."

"..."

"If I can find him I can at least put him to sleep until I can shut the powers down."

"..."

"He does, it's a good idea though."

"..."

Harry laughed. "No, no relation to Scott. I'll talk to you later Lex."

"What was the idea?" Clark asked.

"Lex asked if you had a weakness that might work against Summers."

"Meteor rocks." Clark grimaced.

"The problem is, we have to be able to get close enough to him to use it."

"You want to recharge my powers." Clark said sadly.

"You can move at his speeds, you would have an advantage over him if it came to a physical fight."

"How?"

"Why do you think Brunhilde and Laura been have training you?"

"Oh... right."

* * *

"How on Earth will we find him?" Harry lamented sarcastically as he surveyed the scene before him.

The Summers' house was a disaster. Police cars were overturned the bushes were on fire... one of the cars was lodged in the roof.

"He told his parents he was going to go back to where it all started, the only place he could end it." Harry frowned.

"How do you know that?" Clark asked.

"A mild form of telepathy, it requires eye contact and it is not very effective. Not like the girls back home."

"So he's headed for the dam?"

"Probably."

Harry grabbed Clark and they vanished.

* * *

"Eric!"

They watched as Eric Summers slowly fell over the damn and plummeted to the ground below.

Harry grabbed Clark again and teleported them back to Eric.

"Wow... I can survive that?"

"Clark, how long have we been throwing you off the tower?"

"Oh... yeah."

"Just go and deal with him."

Clark zipped forward and grabbed Eric before he could move. In his right hand was a lead lined balloon filled with meteor rocks. He smashed the balloon against Eric's chest causing them both to fall to the ground in agony.

Harry stepped forward and sent a stunner at the groaning boy before he sent a vanishing spell at the meteor rocks.

"Let's get him back to the castle, I need more time to work on this one as it appears to be energy based and not exactly part of his DNA." Harry suggested.


	8. Chapter 8

Lex found it amusing how nervous Clark was as he set up the camcorder for his interview with Chloe. He'd been happy to do it when Clark had asked. He told him he didn't care if he was using his friendship to get this favour, it's exactly what friendships were for, just like he used Clark's friendship to drop in on the farm every now and again... and would likely use it to move any heavy furniture in the future.

He was called away from the interview with the tenacious Miss Sullivan for an annoying business call. Sometimes living on a round planet sucked, stupid time zones.

When Lex heard Chloe's scream he rushed back downstairs only to see Clark dive out the window from four floors up. Seeing Chloe lying on the floor severely injured he pulled out his phone and called an ambulance.

* * *

"Clark!"

The farm boy spun to see Lana and Pete rushing towards him.

"Is she ok, is she awake?" Lana asked worriedly.

"The doctors say she's going to be ok." Clark assured them as he indicated the sleeping Chloe in the hospital room.

"What happened?" Pete asked.

"We were attacked, these guys just appeared in Lex's Mansion out of nowhere."

"Was Lex hurt?" Lana asked.

"He was out of the room, he had a phone call."

"Sounds convenient to me." Pete groused.

"Pete." Clark said warningly.

"Ok, she has a few cracked ribs, a broken arm and a nasty concussion, that said, she'll be home in a few days." Harry reported as he walked up dressed in a doctor's white lab coat.

"Doctor Potter? I didn't know you worked here." Lana remarked.

"Occasionally I help out, during major incidents and the like, sometimes I consult on unusual cases."

"As long as she gets better I don't care who does take care of her."

"I some how doubt you'd say that if I was her doctor, Mr. Ross." Lex smirked as he walked up behind them. He ignored the scowl and turned to Harry. "I've got her dad on the way. She's covered by LuthorCorp Medical Insurance but she was hurt in my mansion so make sure they charge everything to me, just don't tell Gabe until it's done."

"Harry, is she ok?" They all turned to see the green haired Lorna walking up in a tight pair of jeans a halter-top and light jacket.

Pete, who had never met Lorna or the other girls, stared slack jawed.

"Ow!"

Until Clark elbowed him.

"I swear, times like this I wish I could post the results on the door, would save me repeating myself." Harry groused.

Lex laughed at Harry and Lorna's expressions. "I'm staying until Gabe gets here, I'll explain what he told us."

"Wow... just... wow." Pete breathed.

"Ahem."

Pete's head snapped round and he saw an irritated Lana Lang with a grimacing Clark and Harry behind her.

"Erm... what I meant to say was-"

Lana just spun around pushed through Clark and Harry before entering Chloe's room.

"Nice Pete. Very nice." Harry said as he patted the young man on the shoulder and walked off.

Pete sighed. "At least _she_ didn't hear me." He said nodding to where Harry had joined Lex and Lorna.

"No, but she did see you drooling."

"Kill me now."

* * *

"I want to use this opportunity to tell Chloe about what I am." Lorna told the two men. "I think it will be a good way to ease her in to the other secrets and show Clark that his friends can be trusted."

Harry just shrugged but Lex clearly was thinking it was a bad idea.

"You think she won't be able to handle it?" Lorna asked.

"I think she might, there's a big difference between reporting that an alien landed on the planet to make overtures of peace and telling the world that the boy you grew up with and is your best friend, is actually an alien.

"I'm just worried that if we are wrong you can't un-tell her."

Harry patted him on the shoulder. "Lex, the castle is home to four highly powerful telepaths... if that fails, I can erase her memories with magic."

Lex stood there in shock as they walked off. Had they heard _all _his racy thoughts?

He was so dead.

* * *

As was Clark's way, he took Chloe's injuries personally. He wasn't quick enough or strong enough. Despite the fact that he had been severely physically affected by the assailants. After school he had dragged Pete to investigate, the Cuckoo's decided to tag along. Not that Pete complained.

They discovered that a similar robbery had occurred at the Smallville bank where the robbers had managed to enter a locked room without opening any doors, just like at the mansion. So that is where they started.

"Why are we here again? Bank heists are a little out of our league, Clark." Pete said nervously.

"Don't worry Pete." Phoebe smiled reassuringly.

"We won't let Clark do anything foolish." Celeste said with a pointed look at the overgrown Boy Scout.

"We have plans for him tonight." Mindee's look was anything but innocent.

Clark gulped before turning his attention back to the bank. "Ok, I've seen all I need to."

The girls shared a rolled set of eyes.

"What? You got x-ray vision or something Clark?" Pete scoffed.

"Come on boys, let us show you how to really investigate." Celeste said as she snapped her fingers and her sisters grabbed them by the arm.

Clark and Pete witnessed first hand as the gorgeous identical triplets completely bamboozled the bank manager and security into giving them the details with nothing more than a smile.

* * *

Chloe slowly regained consciousness. She didn't know where she was but it definitely wasn't her room. Unless her dad had gone overboard on disinfectants... again.

She was in a fair amount of pain, her arm throbbed her head ached and breathing was excruciating!

"Morning sleepy head."

Oh god, there was a chipper Candy Striper in the room... it had to be a hospital.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw a mass of green hair.

She blinked a few times.

"Lorna?"

"Glad you remembered me, it has been a few weeks after all."

"You have green hair." Chloe pointed out dryly.

Lorna smiled, it was a little tighter than usual but the amusement was still there. "I'm going to pretend you just said: 'Lorna! Of course I remember the woman who cheered me up in my darkest moment.'"

"Tell me you're here to do it again by breaking me out of this place and I'll say whatever you want." She said grumpily.

"Well, you are supposed to be in here for a few more days, but I think we could come to an agreement."

Chloe eyed her suspiciously. Then a thought occurred to her. "How did I wind up here?"

"You were interviewing Lex Luthor in his mansion with Clark and you were attacked? You wound up getting thrown out of a fourth floor window?"

Chloe frowned. "I can't remember."

"Don't worry, you had a very bad concussion so it's likely you have mild amnesia, it might come back to you but by all accounts you handled yourself admirably."

* * *

Chloe and Lorna arrived at Luthor Mansion to be greeted by Lex himself. Apparently her father had given into Lex's pleas for her to receive private care at his Mansion. He showed her to a room on the ground floor, it was a servant's room but it had an en suite bathroom and would save her from having to walk up and down stairs with broken ribs.

"Are you going to get started now?" Lex asked Lorna.

"Yep, Jean gave me the goods and I am set to go." Lorna smiled at Lex.

"I'll leave you to it." He smiled at the two ladies and stepped out of the suite closing the door behind him.

"Is this going to be some therapeutic massage?" Chloe asked.

"No, the Cuckoos are the best at that, they are so in sync that they work you into paradise." She said dreamily. "No, first, you need to drink this." She handed her a glass vial with a rubber stopper.

"What is it?"

"A special medicine that Jean, a doctor friend, gave me. It will... make you feel much better."

"It's not some sort of drug like LSD?"

Lorna just smiled. "Trust me."

Chloe tried to take the stopper off.

Then Lorna remembered she only had one hand to use and did it for her with a sheepish apology.

Chloe sniffed the clear liquid but couldn't smell anything.

She took a deep breath and downed it sending it straight past her tongue and down her throat.

As Lorna retrieved the vial from her hand she looked around the room. Nothing seemed to be moving, nothing was doubled or coming to life so she didn't think she was drugged.

Then she felt it. Her swollen eye began to tingle. Her ribs and forearm bones felt like they were shifting.

It was fairly uncomfortable, but not painful.

"What did you do to me?" She asked worriedly.

"What I just gave you was the most powerful healing substance in existence. The tears of a Phoenix."

"Is that some new type of plant?"

"Phoenix, as in the presumed mythical fire bird that is reborn from its ashes."

"Presumed?"

"Well, I did just imply they existed."

"And you have one and gave me its 'healing tears'?" She asked sceptically.

Lorna walked over to the dresser and picked up a mirror that she handed to Chloe.

"My face!"

"Check you ribs."

Chloe put the mirror down and felt her ribs. They no longer hurt and her face was completely healed.

"Wow... just... wow." She said.

"Now for the next part, the important part." Lorna said seriously.

Chloe looked a little worried, was there some sort of payment required.

"I am going to tell you about something. But you can't tell anyone about it. Lex knows but you can't even talk to him. But this cannot be written or spoken about. Do you understand?"

"I guess... does this mean I can't write about Phoenixes?"

"Everything you learn here in Lex's Mansion is completely secret, from your miraculous recovery and Phoenixes to what ever else you learn." Lorna warned.

"Ok." She agreed slowly.

"You need to understand that if you do start blabbing, the consequences will be severe. Think of this as being top secret, government black ops type of secret."

"If I blab you kill me?" Chloe was beginning to lose a bit of colour.

"We won't kill you, we have other methods, but from your point of view they won't seem very nice. We won't hurt you though, in any manner." She assured her.

"Ok, I'm in." Chloe said firmly. It didn't really matter what the threat was, if these were good guys then she could learn to keep her mouth shut, if they were bad guys then she would get help.

Lorna smiled and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Phoenixes are magical beings. Magic does exist and I am a witch." She said simply as she caused her hand to light up.

Chloe looked at her. "Neat trick." She said, the scepticism dripping from her lips.

Lorna waved a hand at Chloe's cast and it turned into a cat. Chloe backed away slightly panicked.

"You really are a witch."

"That's me." Lorna grinned.

* * *

"Mr. Jenkins, good to see you looking well." Lex said as he passed the large man who was working Harry's farm.

"Mr. Luthor."

"Just Lex, sir. I hear you've been... how did Harry put it... 'magicked up'." Lex chuckled.

"They told you?" Earl asked surprised.

"Yes, I was having trouble coping with some incomplete knowledge, turns out Clark was the missing part."

"They're good people, deserve their safety and privacy." Earl said warningly.

"They have nothing to fear from me. Clark saved my life, it's because of him I'm a completely different person than I was in Metropolis." Lex assured him.

"We are all different in our youth." Harry said as he strolled up.

"Harry, hope you don't mind that I came round. Lorna has Chloe at my place giving her the explanation and I thought I'd clear out. I sent the staff home as well."

"That's no problem." Harry shrugged.

"I'm curious, if you don't mind me asking, Mr. Jenkins, how did you heal him Harry?"

Earl gave a shrug and a nod to Harry.

"I built him a new body." Harry stated simply.

"I... don't understand."

"The problem had become genetic, it was in every cell of his body. I could have taken the time to suppress the symptoms and eventually figure out how to repair or reverse the damage but it might have taken a long time.

"Instead I found some clean DNA from his home and from it I rebuilt his body and then transferred his soul across."

Lex widened his eyes and then scrunched them. "Wow... it's only been a few days so hearing you talk about souls and new bodies like that... wow."

Earl chuckled. "Imagine how it felt for me, I could see my damaged body and my new body from the outside. Do you know what that's like?"

"Actually I do." Lex said. "When Clark saved me that time we first met I found myself outside of my body floating over the town... it was... an experience." He said wistfully.

"That does happen sometimes." Harry nodded. "More often than people realise, but most people repress it."

"Harry, what do you do when you can't get fresh DNA?"

"Well, some people like Cassie, they aren't ill from exposure, they just get abilities. For them it all depends on whether they are violent and commit crimes. Our dungeon currently has several meteor-infected people who are serving a sentence for their crimes. Whilst they serve their sentence we are working on removing their powers."

"You are holding people prisoner?" Lex asked.

"Where would I send them? If I gave them to local authorities they would break out in minutes and kill anyone in their way. By all rights I could have killed them all. As it stands my soul mates tend to temper my hand some what."

* * *

"Ok, so we've established that you are a potion brewing, broom _capable_ riding, spell casting witch and that we will never mention skin colour or... facial blemishes again." Chloe shuddered. She had mentioned green skin and warts and Lorna had turned her into a toad.

It wouldn't have been so bad if there hadn't been a fly in the room.

"Right."

"So why all the secrecy?"

"What do you think would happen if you went to the Daily Planet and presented this story to them?" Lorna asked as she settled into a nearby chair.

"I'd get laughed out of the office and the world of journalism."

Lorna nodded. "What do you think would happen if I went with you as proof?"

"They would probably hold a press conference."

"And then what would happen?"

"More interviews, in papers, radio and TV I guess."

"And?"

"I suppose the government might want to talk to you. See what you can do... and I am beginning to see your point." She breathed reluctantly.

Lorna smiled with pride. "So now you can see why some stories are better kept buried."

"So no one will ever know about magic?"

"You know. My friends know. Those that I can trust to keep my secret know."

"Then why tell me?"

"A test. If you can keep this secret then there are other secrets, more important secrets that you can be trusted with. You are... special in a way, not a way that matters to most of the world, but there is a reason I want to reveal these secrets to you and if you can keep this secret then I can justify telling you more."

"Bigger secrets than magic being real?" Chloe said in awe.

"Trust me, I'm not even worth mentioning."

* * *

"Lex, I believe you've met Cassie, or Cassandra as you knew her."

Lex looked at the young woman who appeared to be slightly younger than him. He just couldn't place her. "Look, I'm really sorry, but if we met in Metropolis then I probably wouldn't remember, I wasn't exactly attempting to keep up on names and faces back then." He apologised.

Cassie smiled and moved forward. "I saw you as the President of the United States in a pure white suit that practically glowed. But then you were covered in blood and everything you touched died."

Lex frowned as Cassie stepped forward and took his hand.

As she closed her eyes she spoke again. "I see you again as the President, but you are dressed more conservatively. You are surrounded by friends." She opened her eyes and released Lex's hand. "If you want to avoid the first future, one of death and loneliness, then stay close to Clark and Harry. They can guide you to a better life."

Lex's eyes widened in recognition. "From the retirement home." He whispered. "But you died, I was holding your hand!"

"Ahem!"

Lex spun towards Harry who was grinning and waving.

Lex looked a little weak and pale so Harry conjured a chair behind him.

"You said you could do it... I didn't doubt it. But to see the proof."

"Does he need a paper bag?" Cassie asked.

Lex just laughed weakly. "I'm not sure it would matter... if I died, Death is right here."

"I think he's gonna be just fine." Harry smirked.

* * *

"Quick, get back in bed." Lorna ordered Chloe.

Chloe quickly complied. "Why?"

"Clark and Pete are coming to visit, they just arrived. Secret, remember."

"Oh right! Wait, my face and cast."

"Yeah, hold still, I'm going to need to pound your face a bit."

Chloe's eyes went wide.

"I'm joking!" Lorna laughed as she waved her hand casting a glamour to restore her battered appearance without the pain and a new cast to form.

"I'm still trying to determine if you are out to cause trouble! Please don't scare me like that." Chloe scowled.

"But it's fun! Besides, I told you I'm only here to do what good I can."

Chloe just growled at her, to which Lorna laughed harder.

"Chloe! And Lorna?" Clark was confused... nothing unusual... but it still confused him.

"I offered to play nurse whilst she recuperated." Lorna explained. "You must be Pete Ross, hi, I'm Lorna Dane and friend of Clark and Chloe, we saw each other last night but never got introduced."

"Wow-OW!"

Pete's drooling was interrupted by Clark's elbow.

"I'm getting pretty fed up with everyone having secret friends." Pete groused. "And getting elbowed."

"You don't have your own friends? Different classes, different clubs and hangouts?" Lorna asked.

"Yeah Pete, what about all those girls you date?" Clark teased.

"That's different!"

"Do tell, Super Stud." Chloe snarked.

"Well... it just is!"

"What if I'm dating Clark?" Lorna asked as she sidled up to Clark and sat in his lap. Clark just blushed.

"Isn't he dating those triplet cheerleaders?" Chloe asked.

"I should have stayed at the farm." Clark groaned.

"Oh! Erm..." All heads turned to see a shocked and embarrassed Lana standing in the doorway. "I'll just come back..." She quickly turned and walked off.

"Lana! Wait!" Clark called out.

"You stay here, I'll go get her." Lorna warned. After all those centuries of working with teenagers she had a pretty good handle on how to deal with the whole High School Drama.

* * *

She knew she was still in a relationship with Whitney but it still hurt. Seeing Clark with all these women draped across him. It didn't help they were amazingly beautiful or exotic. First he had three identical blond triplets and now the green haired goddess. Then there were the other women at the castle. She knew he spent a lot of time there even though they claimed it was just training.

She had met most of them at least once when they took her to get her necklace insured, Lorna seemed very nice.

"Lana Lang!"

A hand clamped down on her shoulder and she jumped. Attached to the hand was the green haired goddess.

"World of your own?" The woman smiled.

Lana composed herself and threw on a smile. She knew it didn't reach her eyes but hopefully the woman would let it pass.

Lana knew there was no chance of that when the woman rolled her eyes, put her hand around her shoulder and led her the way she had originally been going.

"You have it bad, don't you." She said sympathetically. "Tell me Lana, why are you still with Whitney Fordman?"

Lana's head snapped around with an angry look. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

Lorna just shrugged. "Maybe, but I know you are unhappy in that relationship and that you are pining after Clark. You could try talking to someone with a fair bit of knowledge and experience when it comes to relationships."

"You can't be that much older than me."

"I'm a lot older than I look." Lorna smirked. "Plastic surgery."

Lana looked at her closely.

"It's rude to stare."

"Sorry!" Lana blushed.

"Make it up to me by explaining the weird little love triangle you've got going."

Lana sighed. "I've been with Whitney for a long time. But… we've kind of grown apart. He's a different person and so am I. Plus… he's really not making me want to stick by him considering his stunt with Clark and the scarecrow." She scowled.

"And the whole Clark side of things?"

"Clark is the opposite of Whitney. He's quiet, relaxed and… un-demanding."

"So why are you with Whitney and not Clark?"

"Well Clark is clearly unavailable." She scoffed with a wave of her hand at Lorna.

"First of all, never leave a situation like back there without getting all the details. I was just teasing Clark, nothing more."

"And the identical triplets?"

Lorna laughed. "They like Clark but are more than willing to step back if you want in. If you step up then Clark will probably worship the ground you walk on for saving him."

"Then why are they always kissing him?"

"That's the thing, they kiss him. Never on the lips though as they enjoy teasing him but know he wouldn't appreciate it going too far."

"They're just using him?" Lana was beginning to build up a head of righteous indignation.

"It's more that they are trying to teach him about girls. Enough about Clark, he's the easy part of this mess. What about Whitney, why stay with him?"

"I don't know. At first I thought things would get better, that it was just a phase. But then his dad got sick, he lost his scholarship… "

"Yeah, but his dad is better now. Perfectly healthy."

"How did you know?" Lana asked suspiciously.

"It's a _very_ small town."

"I just-"

"You are afraid to take that final step and break up with him. Afraid of hurting him, afraid he'll hate you… etcetera."

"I am." She admitted with a small voice.

"He'll get over it and so will you. Say you went out with Clark? What if you eventually grew apart? You are very young Lana and you are going to change over the next few years. Make the most of your youth and take the enjoyment where you can."

"That sounds very familiar." Lana frowned.

"It's something Harry says. We've all heard and tend to repeat it. Along with a lot of other things he says."

"I guess I should go and apologise." She said as she looked back towards where Chloe was staying.

"No, you should go off and decide what to do about Whitney."

* * *

Later that evening Lana returned. "Hey Chloe, how are you?"

"Lana, you're back!" Chloe smiled.

"Sorry about running out earlier."

"Are _you_ ok?"

"Yeah… I think I am." Lana smiled sadly. "I broke up with Whitney today."

"Oh my god! What happened?" Chloe asked as she sat up… then remembered she was supposed to be injured and faked a wince. "Won't be doing that again." She grimaced as Lana helped her back down. "So, why did you break up?"

"We just grew apart, I needed a break." Lana shrugged.

"Want to raid Lex's fridge for chocolate ice-cream?" Chloe offered sympathetically.

Lana just laughed. "No, I'm ok. A little shaken… but-"

"What happened, you don't seem all that ok?"

"I saw him talking with some men. They didn't look like nice men." Lana admitted. "It was actually that that helped me make the decision."

"Gang members?"

"They had tattoos."

"Let Fordman make his own mistakes, girls." Lorna warned as she walked in with three tubs of Haagen-Dazs.

"How did you know?" Lana asked.

"I had faith you would make the sensible decision." She smiled as Chloe looked on curiously.

* * *

"Harry? It's Lex. I think I need some of your special help."

"…"

"Well I didn't know how secure the lines are."

"…"

"That's handy. Anyway I just had a repeat visit from those same men who robbed me and attacked Chloe."

"…"

"No, I'm fine, but Harry, they just managed to _appear_ in my office. No doors opened, no windows… could these be magicals?"

"Did you hear any noise at all?"

"GAH!" Lex jumped his phone clattering to the ground as Harry appeared behind him. "For Christ's sakes Harry! Don't do that! I could have had other people in here."

"First of all, you were talking about magic so I assumed you were alone. Second of all, I've been here since you said you had a repeat visit, I was just invisible and silenced."

"Give me some warning next time. Please!"

* * *

Having gotten the details of what the thieves wanted, namely money, Harry and Brunhilde came up with a suitable plan. They would follow the thieves' entire plan except the part about coming alone and not doing anything stupid… Harry was a big fan of stupid, well… this kind of stupid.

"Why are we out here? Shouldn't we be in there with Lex?"

Clark, Brunhilde, Amara, Laura and Scott were currently stationed at strategic points around the meat locker where Lex had been instructed to meat them… meet them. Jean was hovering above them out of sight. Clark was partnered with Brunhilde as he was considered the rookie or trainee.

"Harry is more than capable of handling anyone that attempts to hurt Lex. Just remember that you are not to engage with your powers if it comes to that."

"_They're here."_ Clark jumped as he heard Harry's voice in his head. _"They appear to have phased straight through the walls, they are armed with guns."_

"That is creepy." Clark shuddered.

"Focus Clark." Brunhilde warned.

"Where did the walls go?" Clark asked as he suddenly had a clear view of the inside of the locker. He knew he wasn't using his x-ray vision.

"Worry not, Clark, Harry has just made them invisible." She assured them. She burst out laughing as the startled thugs tried running. They didn't realise the walls were still there and smashed into them, at least one of them was out cold and the others were severely dazed.

"That's it? All of us came out here for that?" Clark asked in disappointment.

"Clark, remember; the best won battle is the one that is won before the first punch is thrown or the first shot is fired. This was a most successful night."


	9. Chapter 9

"Lex, I really don't care what shady shenanigans you get up to. I'm not asking and I don't intend to." Harry assured the bald headed millionaire as they entered the somewhat derelict remains of the Talon, the town's former movie theatre. After last nights thwarted blackmail and extortion attempt, Lex wanted to make sure he wasn't going to get an official visit from Death.

"And I appreciate that, but I just wanted to assure you it isn't as bad as it seems."

"Is everything ok? We could do this later." Lana offered as she greeted the two men she had been waiting for.

"No, we're done. Right Lex?"

Lex just sighed. "I'm sorry Lana, please begin."

This was it. This was what she had spent the better part of two days working on. Chloe and Pete had contributed and even Lorna had offered a suggestion.

She extolled the merits of the old town theatre and it's potential in today's world. How live bands would appeal to the younger generation and the right colours and layout would bring in the rest. She waxed lyrical on how her parents were a prime example of how teenagers hooked up in a place like this.

She then laid out the business side of the plan. She offered to work and run the place and take full responsibility.

And then she had the hard part.

Waiting for a response.

"Harry, what do you think?" Lex asked, his face and voice neutral.

"With a little training and experience I think she'd make a good sales-person."

"Agreed, but I meant about the proposal itself."

"It's a good proposal with one fatal flaw."

Lana sucked in a breath of fear.

"A second coffee shop will be a novelty but will ultimately split the consumers into two groups, the younger generation and the rest. It will fail as a result because it won't be able to pull a solid majority."

"So you think the project is a lost cause?" Lex asked.

"As it stands, yes. It has a chance of surviving but not a good chance. For it to really survive it requires something more. Something that will force the Beanery to concede defeat."

"ESPN?" Lex offered.

"What? Oh, no. That will just turn this into a sports bar and Lana will be stuck in a dead end job she hates. No, it needs to be able to fulfil its original purpose. You need to renovate and reopen the theatre."

Lana's heart dropped to her stomach as despair filled her. There was no way she could squeeze that into her budget.

"That's a lot of money, Harry."

"Which when you take into account the advertising revenues and boom in Hollywood, it will pay for itself."

Lex looked around the stripped room.

"Ok, it's a deal. I'll sell you the building in return for rental agreements to run the coffee shop."

Lana was confused.

"Congratulations Miss Lang, you just secured your first business." Harry smiled as he held out his hand.

Lana, still confused, took Harry's hand. "I don't understand."

"Lana, I was reluctant to go ahead with your plan." Lex admitted. "I had my own experts check for feasibility and they said it was a money pit. Harry suggested the idea that a movie theatre would draw the crowds back, I couldn't justify throwing that much money at the project so Harry offered to buy the building and rebuild the theatre whilst I pay for the coffee shop."

"What will I be doing?" Lana asked.

"Considering your disastrous career as a waitress we decided you would handle the paperwork and staffing side of things. Your position will be as Assistant Manager. You will answer to the Manager and us." Harry grinned.

"Who will the Manager be?" She asked hesitantly.

"Coach Summers. It's good to have an intimidating face around the place. We might have some of the other castle residents pick up the job of Manager now and then. You will be responsible for closing the place down at the end of the day, you will work one day of the weekend and four days during the week. You will be part time only and it is not to interfere with your other activities such as your position at the school newspaper or your studies." Harry explained.

"Sounds daunting, doesn't it." Lex said with a sympathetic smile.

Lana could only nod with wide and slightly fearful eyes.

* * *

Whitney Fordman was gone. He had been expelled from the school and arrested for being part of the extortion and blackmail attempts on Lex. His father had decided his son needed to learn responsibility so he had taken him and enlisted him in the Marines with Lex's aid. It was the biggest news since the gorgeous Emma Frost arrived as Principal.

Chloe was out of the Luthor Mansion after having spent a suitable amount of time 'recovering'. Lorna had spent a fair amount of time talking with her and answering questions. Part of the test was that she couldn't talk to Lex or even acknowledge they knew about the same things.

She had been fairly insulted when Lex tried to bribe her. He had just laughed and told her she did a good job.

She had kept up on the gossip and even managed to write a story or two for the Torch that Lana assigned her. Lana seemed intent on getting Chloe back as Editor so she gave her the juiciest assignments.

Today was her first day back and the biggest class assignment was to write a six-page biography on a fellow classmate. She had been assigned Clark Kent. Mr. Super Secretive.

Clark was assigned Lana Lang and that seemed to have sent him over the moon. Clark was her best friend and Lana was growing on her but jealousy still ate at her, she managed to hide her feelings well though.

The person assigned to do her biography was Celeste Cuckoo. She was not looking forward to that encounter as she was not a fan of Clark's groupies.

Chloe decided to go straight to the source for her biography, Jonathan and Martha Kent.

* * *

Clark arrived home to find his worst nightmare waiting for him. Chloe Sullivan interviewing his parents.

"Clark, how did your interview with Lana go?" Martha asked as she grasped onto the first distraction she found. The senior Kents had just discovered that Chloe's middle name was 'Tenacious'.

"It went ok… Chloe, why are you here?"

"Your biography Clark. Who better to get the scoop from than your parents?" She smiled.

"Yeah… thanks for asking." Clark said sarcastically, but Chloe either missed it or ignored it.

"So, what can you tell me about Clark's adoption?"

"His adoption?" Martha did not want to go down this route.

"Yes, did you meet his biological parents or-"

"Chloe!" Clark snapped.

"What?" Chloe asked clearly not understanding what the problem was.

"Tell me Chloe, how will you react when Celeste asks your father about your mother?" Amara asked quietly from the kitchen counter where she was drinking some tea.

"Why would she do that?" Chloe asked with narrowed eyes.

"Why would you ask about Clark's adoption?"

"It's part of his biography, where he came from and who he is."

"Just as your mother is a part of yours." Martha said, continuing Amara's point.

"No she is not." Chloe said angrily. "She had better leave my mother out of it."

"Maybe you should offer the same consideration to the Kents." Amara chided gently.

Chloe didn't seem to be listening as she was hastily clearing up. "I'll be back later!" She called out as she rushed out the door.

"Maybe I should-"

"Leave her be Clark." Amara warned. "Sometimes it isn't your job to help and save others."

* * *

Lana Lang had given Clark Kent a brief summary of her life. She wasn't as surprised as she thought she should be to find out he already knew most of it. Clark knew and watched her; she knew that, had for years. The difference between Clark and stalkers like Tina and Greg was that he never imposed himself. He went out of his way to help her; even at the cost of what he wanted… his own happiness.

That was what attracted her to him.

Which made the subject of her assignment fairly… awkward. Phoebe Cuckoo was one of the triplets. She and her sisters may as well have dropped their knickers and pissed all over him with their displays. They tried to make it quite clear he was theirs.

She found it hard to believe Lorna's contrary statements.

"Come on Lana, I don't bite!" Phoebe smiled as she bared all her teeth teasingly as they sat in the empty remains of the Talon, the repairman had retired for the day and they were alone.

"I've seen you with Clark, I'm fairly certain you do." She said with nervous laugh.

"Clark is fun to tease, hopefully we will be able to break him out of that shy farm boy shell of his." She shrugged. "Of course we also need to break you out of your shy small town princess shell." She added with a smirk.

"I'm fine as I am." She smiled, but she was a little tense. The triplets were very forward but they were clearly good people at heart.

"Sure, if you're not interested in truly capturing Clark's heart."

"I don't know what you mean, maybe we should begin." The smile fell as she opened her notebook.

"Lana, we want to help you get Clark, but there is a test you need to pass first." Phoebe said seriously.

Lana became a little worried when Mindee and Celeste suddenly appeared behind their sister out of thin air.

"How did you get in here?" She asked as she backed away.

"We aren't going to hurt you." Celeste assured her.

"We really just want to help you get Clark." Mindee continued.

"All we ask is a little patience and to accept our test." Phoebe finished as her sisters conjured seats out of thin air causing Lana to start reaching for the door handle, when she couldn't find it she turned around and was horrified to find the door had vanished.

"What did you do?!"

"Lana, please sit down, we just want to talk. We promise we have no intention of harming you or anyone else. We really do just want to talk." Phoebe said calmly.

"How are you doing this?" The fear was evident in her voice.

"We are witches."

"Witches?"

"Not those kinds of witches." Mindee sighed as images from The Wizard of Oz rushed to Lana's mind.

"Nor those!" Celeste scoffed as Lana thought of Wicca's.

"Ok… technically we aren't those either, but we'd be more than willing to give it a shot." Mindee grinned salaciously as scenes from a late night adult movie she had 'accidentally' stumbled across flew through Lana's mind.

"Lana Lang! Sit!" Phoebe commanded as she stood up with a stern look on her face.

Not thinking she had much of a choice she took a seat, but she was very much on the edge of it.

"As we were saying…"

"We are witches…"

"And-"

"Stop!" Lana closed her eyes to calm herself, fear and frustration getting to her. "Just one of you speak."

"That is part of what we want to talk to you about, Lana." Phoebe was always seen as the most prominent of the trio, which was the way they chose to be. "There is only one of us."

Lana looked at them carefully. "I can clearly see three of you."

"Three bodies but we have one mind. One mind shared by three bodies."

"You mean like Twin Telepathy?"

"No, we literally have one mind, a hive mind if you will."

"So… one of you controls three bodies?"

"It's hard to explain, but each body has a mind and personality but those are part of a single mind and personality. We all hear, feel and experience what the others do."

Lana sat there trying to run the logistics of the concept through her mind. "That… can I just pretend you have permanent shared telepathy?"

The girls giggled. "Sure, but if you think that's bad, remember that there used to be five of us." Celeste laughed.

Lana felt a headache as she tried to imagine that.

"You weren't far off with the telepathy though." Phoebe took up the conversation again. "We are telepathic. We hear everyone's thoughts, we can't _not_ hear them. We have learnt to ignore them to a degree."

The fear and guilt was clear to see in Lana's eyes.

"Relax, we don't go looking." Phoebe assured her.

"But you can hear what I am thinking now?"

"Yes, but I don't think you need to worry about us hearing you think 'oh god oh god oh god' over and over again." Celeste commented dryly.

That did not ease Lana's panic.

"Ok… ok…" She said as she took calming breaths. "You three are telepathic witches with one mind."

All three nodded.

"You don't want to hurt me?"

Three head shakes.

"Kidnap me?"

Three head shakes.

"Eat me?"

"Could you define: 'eat'?" Mindee grinned with a suggestive eyebrow waggle.

This earned her a slap from Phoebe. "Ignore her, we don't want to eat you."

"Why are you telling me this then?"

"It's a bit of a test." Phoebe explained. "Our secrets are fairly insignificant compared to other secrets we know. We want to trust you with those secrets but we need to see how you will react to our personal secrets."

"Why me?"

"Everybody needs a friend." Celeste shrugged. "Even us."

* * *

Pete was exhausted. That wasn't so bad, he had just been run through all the drills by Coach Summers.

What made it bad… or more accurately: annoying, was the fact that his best friend the starting Quarterback wasn't even sweating. His breathing was good and he definitely didn't seem to be aching.

It made him want to kick him in the balls just to see if he was human.

"I think I hate you Clark."

"Don't blame me for my impressive stamina!" Clark laughed. "Coach says you've improved, he's thinking of putting you on the starting line-up."

"Really?" The excitement in his voice was almost palpable.

"Ross! Hurry up and get changed then meet me in my office." Coach Summers called into the steamy locker room.

Pete and looked at Clark. "You don't think…?"

"I think a lot of things Pete, but Harry once told me to avoid speculation and just get the answers from the source." Clark told him.

* * *

"Pete, good, take a seat." Scott said, his face neutral along with everything else about him. He was in full professor mode.

"What's up Coach?"

"Well, the good news is, you've made the starting line-up."

Pete smiled happily.

"You worked hard for it and you deserve it. But you need to be mindful of the fact that you still don't have the same stamina as the other players, you are working on it but I will need to switch you out at times when I see you flagging."

"Sure Coach, I understand." That grin would likely need to be sand blasted off.

"Now comes for the… other news." Scott said.

"That doesn't sound good." That smile nearly slipped.

"It's not bad news, it's not even news really. Pete, for reasons I can't explain I am going to let you in on a personal secret.

Pete's smile was frozen… his mouth was still smiling but there was fear in his eyes. "I don't know what you've heard Coach but I really don't swing that way." Pete laughed nervously.

Scott was gobsmacked.

"Coach?"

"Pete, first off you are underage and I am your Coach, second I'm as straight as you are." Scott assured him.

"Oh… then forget I said anything." Pete said nervously. Apparently embarrassment was able to remove that smile.

Scott rolled his eyes. "Pete, I'm going to be blunt. Try not to go running off in fear, ok?"

Now Pete was confused. "Sure Coach, whatever."

Scott wasn't sure why he agreed to this. Dani came up with some weird ideas at times. Oh that's right, she had his wives double-team him into submission along with the Cuckoos and Laura. Those last four always played to his parental feelings for them. Some things never changed no matter how old you got.

"I'm a Wizard, Pete. I can do magic." Scott stated as he began transfiguring the pencils on his desk into kittens and puppies.

"Whoa!" Pete fell over backwards in his chair as he tried to back away.

"Pete, didn't we just agree that you wouldn't go running in fear?"

Pete picked himself up off the floor. "Fear? That's not fear that's mind-blowing awe! You could make _so_ much money!"

Scott rubbed his temples; those girls were going to pay for this.

* * *

The following day Clark arrived at the school having made it to the bus stop on time, this was mainly because the Cuckoos would have arrived at the farm to escort him. Clark was a yellow-bellied chicken but he didn't care.

"Hey Pete." He greeted his friend and took a seat on the wall next to him as they waited for the bell.

"Clark." Pete said simply, but he was grinning like a loon.

"I take it from your smile you made the starting line-up?" Clark asked.

Pete wasn't sure what he was on about. "Huh?"

"Yesterday, Coach called you to his office, did he say if you made the first string team?"

"Oh… oh yeah!" Pete said as his smile got wider. "I forgot about that, yeah I made it."

"How could you forget about it? You've been aiming for it since you joined the team."

"I guess I was so happy I forgot why I was happy." Pete lied lamely.

"That makes no sense."

Pete was saved by an angry Chloe storming across the courtyard.

"YOU! Cuckoo!"

The newly arrived triplets turned.

Chloe stormed up to them and faltered. They all looked alike and she had no idea which one was Celeste.

"Celeste Cuckoo?" She asked.

Celeste stepped forward. "Is there a problem Chloe?"

"Did you ask my dad about my mom?" The anger was back.

"No, it seemed fairly obvious from your house that your mother was a taboo subject. There were no photos and he never mentioned her. It seemed cruel to bring it up, I can't imagine anyone would be so insensitive." She said with disgust at the thought.

"Oh… well… good." Chloe tried to regain her momentum but she couldn't manage it. She had just laid into the girl after all.

"If there is nothing else, we have to get to our lockers." Celeste said, she didn't wait for a response as she and her sisters walked past Chloe sending Clark a sly wink on the way.

"_Your welcome handsome."_

Clark jumped a little, he still wasn't used to hearing voices in his head. He wasn't sure what he was welcome for either.

"Chloe, what was that about?" Pete asked.

"Nothing… it was nothing." Chloe said firmly. She was not going to talk about her mother.

* * *

That afternoon Clark and Lana met Lex at the Talon to go over more designs with the contractor. Clark was there to support his friends. What they found was an unconscious contractor and a gift-wrapped severed hand.

Lex immediately called Harry.

Then he called the Sheriff.

"Ok, I have good news and bad news." Harry announced after he performed his examination. "The bad news is that the owner of the hand is dead. The good news is that this was cut off after he died."

"How is that a good thing?" Lana demanded.

"Trust me… it's a good thing." Harry said with a slight shudder as memories of his graveyard torture came back.

"Harry?" Clark asked with concern.

"I'm fine Clark. I'm fine." Harry assured him.

"Harry!"

They all turned to see Laura, Dani and Amara rush in.

"This is a crime scene ladies." The Sheriff warned.

"I'm ok girls, I'll be out in a minute." Harry told them. "Sheriff, you are looking for a corpse with a missing hand."

Outside Harry was enveloped in a hug by the three women. They garnered many jealous and envious looks from passers by.

"What happened, you haven't given off a shock wave like that in centuries." Dani asked.

"Someone had their hand cut off, it was done post-mortem but Lana asked why it was a good thing, I had a slight flashback to when Crouch cut off my hand when I was fourteen."

"Let's go home and spend the evening relaxing then." Amara said soothingly.

* * *

When Lex and Clark called at the castle later Jean explained the situation with Harry, it was a distressing thought to think of a young boy going through that. They were assured that Harry and his soul mates were comforting each other.

"When you say comforting you mean…"

"Yes Lex, lot's of passionate love making."

"Even the Cuckoos?" Lex asked worriedly.

"They may look fifteen but they really aren't." Scott assured them.

"Wait, does this mean they don't want to be my girlfriends anymore?" Clark asked. He was hopeful but also a little hurt.

"You wish." Scott snorted.

* * *

The following afternoon brought tragic news to the Kent Farm as the wards tripped on the herd and Jonathan, Martha, Amara and Dani came running out only to find every single cow was dead.

The Centre for Environmental Protection was quickly called out to remove the barrels of LuthorCorp toxic waste that had been dumped on the land.

"This is wrong." Dani frowned.

"No, this is just what I expected." The anger and despair was clear in Jonathan's voice. "You told me to trust him and-"

"Jonathan, use your brain." Dani snapped. "That toxic waste stinks and it wasn't here this morning. The cows would never have gone near it and there wasn't enough time to for it to saturate the soil, somebody purposely poisoned the herd and is framing Lex or LuthorCorp. I never expected something as malicious and sneaky as this so I didn't put wards on the feed." She added forlornly

"So we suffer because Lex and his father have enemies?" Jonathan demanded.

"Yes, you do. But that doesn't mean I won't pay for this and try to make it right." Lex said. What he saw upset him. Aside from the fact that this one event had completely undermined the work he had done to be a friend to the Kents, Lex knew what animals meant to a real farmer like Jonathan. When the animal was in pain and suffering the farmer would empathise and worry. When they successfully birthed a youngling, they would celebrate.

This was a true attack on a family.

The bastard who did it probably didn't even know exactly what they had done.

"You really think money will make this better?" Jonathan spat.

"No, I know it won't. But it is the very least I can do to make up for my part in this."

They were interrupted by the Sheriff telling Lex that a CEP agent needed to speak with him.

"Go back to the house, Jonathan. We can handle this." Dani instructed as she indicated for Martha to take him.

* * *

The CEP agent that wanted to speak to Lex turned out to be a doppelganger of a man named Jude Royce who had been in town making efforts to terrorise Lex. He had quickly stunned Lex with a tazer before throwing him in the back of his van and driving off with him.

When Lex awoke he found himself trussed up and hanging from the rafters of Club Zero, the place where the real Jude Royce died many years ago.

This was it for Lex, he was about to die. He idly wondered if his soul would stick around long enough for Harry to put him back. He didn't have much hope, but he held onto it as tightly as he could. Jude Royce, or the imposter at least, had been shot by another man who now had another gun pointed at him. Everybody seemed to want Lex dead.

***Thud***

The man fell to the floor unconscious.

"Lex, are you ok?"

"Clark? How did you get here? Did Harry find me?" Everything was a little disorientating being hung upside down.

"Harry? No, Chloe found some information about Jude Royce, he had a home under a false name. The cops found your friends body there and I figured that it would all lead back here, Club Zero." Clark explained as he lifted Lex down and ripped his bonds.

"Not that I'm not grateful but you do realise that Harry is going to lay into you about not taking backup?" Lex asked as he tried to rub feeling back into his legs.

"I didn't think there was time."

"I suppose there wasn't, but I thought Harry could have teleported straight to me."

The embarrassed look on Clark's face told Lex all he needed to know. "Harry doesn't even know I was kidnapped, does he?" Lex laughed.

"I guess I forgot in all the excitement."

"Try and find a phone Clark, get Harry here."

* * *

So it turned out that Roy Rothman, the brother of Amanda Rothman, blamed Lex for her death. Lex had taken Amanda Rothman to Club Zero under the pretext of a night out, but the truth was he wanted to reveal her fiancé's philandering ways. In the scuffle that followed the confrontation Jude was shot dead. She committed suicide after the events of Club Zero and Roy believed there was a cover up and wanted the truth.

It was his sister who shot and killed Jude Royce whilst defending Lex, but Roy was not exactly in a mind to listen. He was quickly carted away and charged with murder and kidnapping.

Clark found himself the unfortunate ball in a game of Human Ping-Pong as punishment for not using his head and calling Harry or any of the Castle residents. Brunhilde got in on the action making it a three way game, which was worse for Clark as she possessed the strength to hit him to Harry and Scott where as those two used banishing curses.

The following days at school were a nightmare as the Cuckoos upped their displays of affection as part of their punishment for him.

Emma joined in by forcing him to dance with her whilst she wore nothing but her bikini briefs and top. Clark couldn't figure out why his mother wasn't stopping this. She just sat there with a smirk.

* * *

Lex tried to hide his smirk as he entered the castle and Emma walked by in her usual regal manner, she was dressed in her costume and nothing else. Behind her Clark trailed along unhappily as they went for another session of dancing.

"Stop laughing!" Clark hissed.

Lex started to giggle.

"I should have left you to die!" Clark called back.

Lex couldn't help the laughter, he kept chuckling to himself as he made his way to where the rest of the residents spent their evenings in would have been the common room of the Gryffindor dormitories back in Harry's home world.

"Mrs. Kent, why do you let Emma torture Clark like that?" Lex asked as he sat down in an empty armchair.

"Do you really imagine Clark's hands will 'accidentally slip' when he is dancing with Emma?"

"Not unless he really wants to spend his evenings walking through town in a dress." Lex scoffed.

"Exactly. I believe it is safe to say that Emma is instilling in my son a healthy respect for the female form."

"That's not respect! That's fear!" Lex laughed.

"To-ma-to, to-mah-to." Martha sang.

"So you are letting her train him when it comes to women?"

"Absolutely."

"I had such high hopes of taking him out for nights on the town, Mrs. Kent. You've absolutely ruined that." Lex mock pouted.

Martha had a decidedly smug look on her face.


	10. Chapter 10

The following day Jonathan was nearly run off the road by an angry driver. Despite this, when the idiot managed to run _himself_ off the road Jonathan still turned back to save him. But by the afternoon Jonathan was acting very out of character.

Dani and Amara were getting very worried. Jonathan Kent was on the verge of getting brained with a frying pan by his wife. It wasn't all that bad when he started hitting on his wife.

They didn't mind when he goosed her bum. They had all tittered at that.

Things got a little awkward when he attempted to caress Martha's breasts.

He had gotten slapped by Amara when he tried to touch _her_ breasts.

"What the devil has gotten into you Jonathan Kent?" Amara demanded as Dani discretely transfigured Martha's frying pan into a rubber variant. She wasn't going to take away _all_ the punishment. She just wanted to make sure Martha left enough for everyone.

"What? The missus isn't putting out and I figured you might be more up for it." Jonathan laughed. "You are always going on about how you can sleep with whom ever you want."

"Did you find a stash of weed?" Dani demanded. "You been eating funny brownies?"

"Jeeze, what is your problem?" Jonathan demanded. "I'm a guy, I have needs, if I can't get them in my bed then-"

"You had really better not finish that sentence Jonathan." Martha growled. She flung out her hand causing a red beam of light to leave it and hit her husband.

"Way to go Martha!" Dani crowed.

"Thank you Dani, but you might want to check him. That was my first use of offensive magic."

"Should we call Harry?" Amara asked.

"He's at the school, we can take him to the hospital and see what they say. Make the bastard suffer through needles."

"An excellent plan, Dani." Martha agreed.

* * *

"His symptoms are familiar. We had another patient in earlier today. In fact it was Jonathan who brought him in." Dr. Macintyre informed them.

"So you can fix him up? Will it require a _really_ long needle?" Dani was practically begging.

The doctor looked at her strangely.

"He tried to feel Amara up!" She explained.

"I see." The doctor said… he really didn't. "Unfortunately the driver, Mr. Beels has slipped into a coma. We are working on toxicology but it will take a while."

"We have access to the best equipment." Amara said. "Please draw us a blood sample and we will have it analysed."

"Do as she says." Martha confirmed.

As the doctor got to work the three women moved away.

"Well, at least we know there was a legitimate reason for him being a jerk." Dani sighed.

"I almost feel guilty for nearly hitting him with the frying pan." Martha said worriedly.

"I still might punch him in the nose." Amara growled.

Dani and Martha looked at the normally placid and soft-spoken Roman Princess in shock.

"He touched my breasts!"

* * *

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Martha asked Harry as he finished his examination.

"No, this isn't a regular illness."

"But they are getting worse, they say Mr. Beels won't last the night."

"Just because I can't cure them doesn't mean I can't keep them alive." Harry assured her.

"Do you know what the problem is?" Amara asked.

"Something has altered their brain chemistry. They are completely imbalanced; their inhibitions have been removed. The real bad news is that there is meteor rock energy involved. I still can't manipulate it." Harry sighed in frustration. Magic was excellent at healing the human body unless foreign energy was involved. Magic is an energy itself and it didn't always play well with other types of energy. Eventually he could probably figure out how to manipulate the energy, but it could take decades of intense study.

"If worst comes to pass I can rebuild Jonathan's body from DNA samples I have from him. I'll just transfer his soul across."

* * *

Lex arrived at the hospital that night with news.

"I think a scientist I have working for me on meteor rocks might be responsible for this." He told Harry as he handed over a thick file. "He was doing something to bring back extinct plants, there was a plant called the Nicodemus. Beels stole a sample and I think that's how it got out."

Harry wasn't paying attention as he began reading through the notes.

Lex was startled when Jean appeared next to them without a word and began reading whatever Harry wasn't.

"I can work with this Harry. But I'll need access to samples of the plant." Jean said as she continued to read.

"Whatever you need." Lex assured them.

"Full HAZMAT and containment Jean."

"Don't worry Harry, I'll lock down the lab."

* * *

Scott was checking the gym when he heard a splash come from the swimming pool. Being an attentive and dutiful teacher (not to mention a paranoid son of a bitch) he went to investigate.

"Clark, what are you doing in here? You know the pool is… who is that?" Scott asked as he noticed the feminine figure swimming beneath the surface of the waves. "Is that Lana Lang?"

"Uh huh." Clark had a very confused yet worried expression.

Scott noticed he was holding a scrap of fabric that did not look like a towel.

"She's not wearing a swimming costume is she?"

"Nuh uh."

"Oh thank god." Clark breathed as Laura teleported in next to Scott. Finally, someone who could vouch for his innocence.

"Was she infected by this plant as well?" Laura asked as she transfigured her clothes into a bathing suit.

"Chloe says they went to investigate the crash site last night."

Laura rolled her eyes and dived in. She quickly surfaced with a struggling Laura.

"Let me go!" Lana screeched.

"Clark, a hand." Laura called out.

Clark stepped forward and easily pulled the struggling Lana out of the water.

At which point Clark's brain shut down as he got a good look at a half naked and soaking wet Lana Lang.

"Hey Clark." She said sexily as she moved in closer to him.

"Miss Lang, dry yourself and get dressed." Scott ordered.

"Oh my, Coach Summers." She smiled as she ignored Clark and sauntered over to him. "Maybe a real man can truly show me a good time."

Clark was a little offended and jealous.

He was very happy when Laura knocked Lana out with a stunner… of course now he had a half-naked Laura (an exceptionally beautiful young woman) holding a half-naked Lana (The beautiful girl of his dreams).

"I see you've still got it." Laura smirked at her fellow coach.

"At least it's not as bad Harry." Scott sighed. It always happened, with every generation they taught. Some young girl or boy would get it in their minds that their teacher was their soul mate, that they were destined to be together.

Of course sometimes they were just interested in banging the hot teacher.

"Emma is-"

"Here." Announced the Principal as she slammed through the doors. "A disappointing showing from our new editor." She declared. "Investigating out on her own in the dark."

"I don't think they were out there for the paper." Clark defended his friends. It was much easier to concentrate now that Laura had magically dried and dressed herself and Emma had Lana wrapped in a large towel. "They were trying to find something to help Mr. Beels and my dad."

"And they did it in the dark. They should have alerted us to their theory and allowed us to handle it." Emma explained. "We would have made use of safety precautions such as gloves and masks… not to mention daylight." She said sarcastically.

* * *

Jean looked up as a glass bell jar was placed on her desk on the papers she was working on.

"Say hello to Nicodemus."

Jean looked at Lorna with a raised eyebrow. "Where did you find this?"

"By the crash site. I grabbed this sample and Amara has burnt the area to a crisp. She and Dani are currently putting new turf and trees up."

"Damn it Lorna, did you use protection?"

"Regular and magical." Lorna assured her. "Tap the glass."

"What?"

"Go on, tap it."

Jean shrugged and tapped the glass with the back of her fingernails. She jumped back slightly as the plant moved to focus on her like a sentient being.

"Wow, this plant must have exceptional abilities."

"Yeah, little bastard tried to spray me."

Jean was instantly around her desk ripping Lorna's blouse open with her stethoscope in her ears and diagnostic spells pouring from her fingers.

"Jesus Jean!"

"Shut up and stay still, I need to know if you are-"

"I had a full HAZMAT suit on sealed with magic." Lorna protested as she pulled her blouse shut and repaired the damage.

Jean didn't care. "You will do as I say or I will call Harry in here and have him tie you down."

"Promises, promises." Lorna smirked.

* * *

"Wakey, wakey sleepy head!"

Lana groaned as the far too chipper voice dragged her from Morpheus' sweet embrace.

"Too early." She grumbled.

"It's two in the afternoon."

Lana's eyes shot open. This was _not_ her room.

"Lorna?"

"The very same." The green haired woman smiled.

"Where am I?"

"Smallville Medical Centre. You got infected by a dangerous plant and went a little nuts."

"I did?"

"You did."

"When you say nuts…?"

"I mean you stripped down to your skivvies dived in the school pool and tried to seduce Clark_ and_ Scott… Coach Summers." She explained cheerfully.

"You're joking aren't you?"

Lorna just looked at her sympathetically. "Laura said you looked good." She offered as a consolation.

"Oh god… where's my Aunt? I need to see about transferring to another school." Lana was close to tears.

"Hey, relax. Neither Clark nor Scott will say a word about this to anyone. We all know that you weren't exactly in control of yourself." Lorna said soothingly.

"I tried to seduce my teacher!" Lana wailed.

There was a knock on the door and Lana's new nightmare walked in: Scott Summers.

"Miss Lang." Scott greeted quietly.

Tears started to stream down Lana's cheeks at the humiliation as she tightly shut her eyes.

"Miss Lang, you have nothing to be ashamed of." Scott assured her. "You do realise that you were deathly ill? There was a good chance you would die."

Lana's eyes shot open at that.

"It's true." Lorna confirmed. "You and Jonathan Kent were both at death's door. Jonathan was also acting out of character considering he tried to feel up Amara."

"What?!"

"I believe Amara and Martha both slapped him even though he has no memories of the event." Lorna giggled.

"Why would he do that?"

"Jonathan Kent wouldn't do that." Scott answered. "But Jonathan Kent wasn't in control when it happened, just like you weren't in control when you're body was infected and tried to seduce me."

Lana shuddered.

They were interrupted by Harry entering. "Lana, how are you feeling?"

"She could use a calming solution." Lorna answered.

"Not taking the news of what happened well?"

"Better than most."

"Lana, you are a teenager, your hormones are in constant flux and it affects your mood. That will cause havoc with you trying to come to terms with what happened. You are a strong young woman and can easily handle it but I want you to see Doctor Grey for a few counselling sessions, ok?"

Lana just nodded.

"Good, now take this. It will calm you down a bit and then we can work on signing you out of this place."

* * *

As Lana was escorted out of the hospital in a wheelchair with her aunt at her side she saw three people she dreaded the most.

"Hi Lana." Came the cheerful chorus of the Cuckoos.

"Hi." Lana responded weakly.

"Are these friends of yours Lana?" Nell asked as she helped her niece out of the wheelchair and nodded to the orderly who had escorted them.

"I… I guess."

"We heard about your little adventure." Mindee giggled as she tapped her temple.

"If only you showed some of that side of you without being hopped up on whacky plant drugs." Phoebe sighed.

"We could have so much fun!" Celeste jumped excitedly.

"I really don't think that was the real me." Lana protested.

"Of course not, it was a glimpse of an unfiltered side of your personality." Phoebe explained. "It was an opportunity to experience life without boundaries."

"Life has boundaries for a reason." Nell warned. She wasn't too keen on where these girls where trying to take her niece morally.

"Yes, but we aren't talking about laws and regulations, we are talking about the boundaries we place on ourselves. The ones that stop us from going on the carousel at the fair because it seems too childish and we might get laughed at."

"Wearing a pink outfit that looks so good but will get us scathing looks from the fashionistas at school." Celeste added.

They all looked at her curiously.

"What? It's really cute and we'd totally make the boys drool." Celeste said defensively.

Mindee and Phoebe rolled their eyes as Mindee wrapped an arm around Celeste and led her ahead of the others as Phoebe walked with Nell and Lana.

"Have you ever gone swimming in a lake naked? Or walked around your house brazenly with no clothes on?" Phoebe asked. "Try it, it is very liberating. It gives you a glimpse into what things could be like without all those pesky limitations and inhibitions."

* * *

True to Lorna's word, only Scott and Clark knew what Lana did, although the Cuckoos and castle residents also seemed to know. Other than his visit to her hospital room Coach Summers never brought it up.

Clark couldn't help but blush when Lana approached him though, which made her blush.

In retaliation the Cuckoos clothing got more risqué until Principal Frost sent them home when their skirts became belts.

Lana returned home after a nerve-wracking day back to an extreme shock.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

"Aunt Nell! What are you doing?" Lana demanded, her hand held tightly to her breast as her heart pounded in her chest.

"Lana, I wasn't expecting you home so soon." Nell blushed.

"Which doesn't explain… this!"

Nell sighed as she put on her robe. "You're friends, the identical triplets, they piqued my curiosity, I had to see what they meant."

Lana close her eyes and tried to reign in her frustration. Those girls seemed to wind everyone up. Coming home to find her aunt dancing around the house naked was not what she was expecting.

"You could have at least closed the curtains!"

Nell was horrified as she looked out of the large living room windows. The ones that faced the Kent Farm. Of course it wouldn't have been so bad if Jonathan had seen her, she just hoped his son hadn't.

"Oh god."

"I have one question." Lana said seriously. "Was it as good as they said?"

* * *

Harry carried the young boy gingerly as they walked quickly through the hospital corridors to an exam room.

"Nurse, please bring the paper work for a young boy hit by a car." He ordered calmly. Behind him a distraught Martha trailed. He had assured her that the boy was fine but it didn't remove the feeling of guilt.

Yes it had been dark. Yes the boy had appeared out of nowhere. But it was her car and her driving. She was responsible in her mind.

"Martha!"

She turned and immediately fell into the comforting embrace of her husband and son.

"Mom, what happened?"

"I really don't know, I was driving back home and he just ran out of the woods, I hit him and called for Harry and he… brought us here." Harry had teleported them all in the car but she had to be careful of who could hear them.

* * *

The young boy, Ryan, was looking at Harry fearfully.

"It won't hurt you." Harry told him gently.

"You can hear it too?"

"The growling? Yes, it's the dragon that protects my mind; the growling is just its way of warning you off. You haven't tried to go deeper so it hasn't had a reason to attack."

"You have a dragon in your head?" Ryan asked in awe.

"Not really. I actually am a dragon." Harry shrugged.

"Are you like me? Special?"

"I suppose I am in a way."

"You can read minds?"

"Not like you can, I have other abilities.

"Now, tell me what happened, why where you out in the woods late at night?"

Ryan looked away. "I don't know, I don't remember."

Harry sighed. He pulled up a stool and sat down. "Ryan, if you don't want to tell me, then for now, that's fine. But you don't have to lie. I assume you want to find out if you can trust me?"

Ryan looked ashamed but nodded.

"Ok, I know for a fact that Martha is not going to let you get shunted off into the foster care system so she has demanded to take you in until your family can be found."

"I don't have any family." Ryan admitted in a small voice.

"You don't have any family _yet_." Harry said pointedly. "We will have to find you a good one."

* * *

Ryan spent the day on the Kent Farm. Clark had school but would spend the afternoon with Ryan. Having shown some skill in the kitchen he helped Amara and Martha for the most part.

"Why can't I hear your thoughts?" He asked Amara suddenly.

"Harry taught us how to protect our minds from intrusion and from broadcasting our thoughts." She explained.

Harry had told him to be open about his abilities as it would help people trust him. This was true for the most part but both Jonathan and Martha spent a lot of time worrying about him hearing them. He already knew about Clark's secret as Harry had told them there was no hiding it from him, but he really didn't need to know how good their night had been.

He really didn't need the details.

"Can he teach me to stop hearing thoughts?"

"He might." Amara nodded. "But it will require patience. It took me only a few months to learn the basics of how to protect my mind but it took some of my friends years."

"Is Harry really a dragon?"

"A very large one." Amara confirmed with a laugh. "Maybe he can show you it later today. I know Lex wants to see it and has been bugging Harry about it."

"Can all of you turn into magical animals?"

"Yes, we all have the ability. Not all of us have a useful form but we can all transform."

"What's your form?" He asked excitedly.

Amara smiled and stepped back from the counter where she was preparing lunch. Her body suddenly swirled downwards and inwards and there, standing before Ryan was a fox. A large fox with a lot of tails.

"Wow!" Ryan knelt down and tentatively reached out a hand. The fox moved forward and nuzzled into it and Ryan started to stroke and pet the strange creature.

"Ryan, Amara, how's lunch coming?" Martha called as she walked downstairs to the kitchen. "Ryan! Get away from that, it could be dangerous!" She cried out as she saw the large fox.

Ryan just laughed. "Its just Amara."

Martha watched as Amara transformed back to the smiling beautiful blonde that was her friend.

"Amara! I didn't know you could do that."

"It's something that Harry taught us. It took him a while to find the ingredients for the potion in our world and they were so rare that he only taught those of us closest to him."

"What kind of creature was that?" Martha asked.

"It's called a Kitsune. A magical form of fox usually found in Japanese lore. We don't honestly have a use for them other than those of us with feline or canine forms who enjoy napping like that." She said with cheeky smirk as she returned to preparing the meal.

"That was so cool!" Ryan declared with a huge smile. "What can Dani turn into?"

"She turns into a huge bird called the Thunderbird. She can generate thunder and lightning. Unfortunately she can't create rain. She is useful if we need to create fear in our enemies before battle."

"Battle?" Martha asked.

Amara turned from the counter to face them both. "Not every species in life is peaceful or simply looking to make friends. There are plenty of people on Earth who like causing mayhem with no regard for the innocent. We have the power to stop them and refuse to stand by and allow it."

"It's just so hard to imagine you as soldiers in a war."

Amara smiled. "It's not what we want to do, just something we feel a responsibility to do. Most of the time we are teachers, helping children like Ryan come to grips with their abilities."

"Will I be able to learn how to change into an animal?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know yet. You don't have the ability at the moment but eventually you might, it also depends on if we can find the correct ingredients for the potion."

* * *

That afternoon Lex slumped into a seat at the newly opened Talon, a coffee in one hand and the paper in the other.

"Should I be reading the business paper too?"

Lex looked up and smiled as he saw Lana standing at the table.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"If I am supposed to be the Assistant Manager then shouldn't I be investigating the business world? Do I need to get a suit?"

Lex smiled, he enjoyed the naivety of these small town folks, it was refreshing to be surrounded by such innocence, it was why he valued Clark's friendship. "Unless you find the world of business fascinating then I would avoid it. As for the suit, your duties are more behind the scenes, if there is a reason for you to attend a meeting that requires one I'll get you outfitted."

Lana sat down in relief. "Thank god!"

Lex just chuckled. "Just keep the coffee flowing and the workers happy and you will run a successful coffee shop."

"Hey guys, I want to introduce you to Ryan." Clark said as he walked up with the aforementioned boy at his side. "Ryan, these are my friends, Lex Luthor and Lana Lang."

"It's good to finally meet you, Ryan." Lana smiled as she offered her hand. Ryan couldn't help but smile back.

"Same here, I've heard about your escapades at the Kent farm, it will be interesting to see your reaction to the castle later." Lex said as he shook the boys hand.

"Castle?"

"That's where Harry lives with his family." Clark explained.

"A real castle?"

"Complete with towers. You might get a special treat if Clark is put through his training." Lex smirked at Clark over his cup.

"Thanks Lex." Clark snarked back.

"What is so wrong with your training, Clark? It sounds very exciting, I know I've enjoyed the training Coach Kinney puts us through." Lana asked.

Lex, realising he had steered the conversation into awkward territory tried to save the day… at Clark's expense. "Clark still has difficulty doing some of his training with beautiful women."

Clark just glared at him.

"Are you scared of women?" Ryan asked.

"When you're older you'll understand my fear." Clark assured him.

"Only if he lets you or Jonathan Kent influence him." Lex laughed.

"Hey! Clark is a very kind person, I think his father taught him well." Lana argued.

"Why don't you date him then?" Ryan asked innocently.

Lex hid his smile behind his mug as Lana and Clark blushed. He knew the boy could read surface thoughts and he wondered what he could hear from Lana now. He quickly downed the rest of his coffee and stood up. "And on that note I will say goodbye and leave you in this young man's capable hands." He smiled.

Clark glared after Lex as Lana fidgeted nervously.

"Would you excuse me, I need to… you know." Clark said slightly embarrassed.

"He needs to pee." Ryan translated guilelessly for the beautiful Lana who just laughed.

"Yeah, thanks buddy." Clark said giving him a light slap on the shoulder before moving off.

"You are definitely interesting to have around, Ryan. I need to go and check on something but I'll be right back."

"I'll be fine." Ryan assured her.

As Ryan sat there alone waiting for Clark or Lana to return he just listened idly to the surface thoughts that floated around him. To him it was the same as walking down a crowded street and listening to people talking to each other or on cell phones. Of course these conversations were one sided like phone calls:

'_I ordered extra foam! God! I think I'll stick with the Beanery.'_

'_Oh god he's going to break up with me I know it, I just know it!'_

'_I hope she agrees to be my prom date.'_

'_Why can't he just ask me out? I know he likes me, he knows I like him.'_

'_For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every action there…'_

'_Where is that damn boy? I swear I'm gonna just lock him in the trunk and-'_

Ryan froze, he knew those thoughts. He glanced around quickly and saw his step-dad; he bolted straight for the back door.

'_Got him!'_

* * *

"Lana have you seen Ryan?"

"It's strange, I think I just saw him go out the back." Lana frowned.

"Thanks Lana!" Clark called back as he followed Ryan's trail.

Clark made it outside at regular speeds to find the only occupants of the alley to be a lone man in a long coat walking away and a garbage truck. Based on Lana's expression and concern Ryan had passed her only seconds earlier so he should still be within his line of sight.

Clark started checking in and behind the bins when he had a horrible thought about where Ryan might be. The garbage truck!

He spun around and peered inside the truck with his X-Ray vision and saw his worst fear, he didn't think as he sped forward and pulled the hose to the hydraulic crusher before punching through the thick metal and tearing a hole that shed a ray of light on a terrified Ryan.

"It's ok, you're safe now." Clark assured him.

Clark looked around startled as he heard the door to the trucks cab open. He didn't have many options so he slammed his hand onto his watch cracking the glass.

At first Clark was worried that Harry was too busy to respond. He quickly began tearing the hole wider to get Ryan out.

"Clark would you cut that out!"

"Harry?"

"Behind you."

Clark jumped in fright. "Don't do that!"

"Scaredy cat." Harry scoffed. "Hold on Ryan." Harry called through the hole.

A second later Ryan appeared next to Clark, dazed and confused.

"We have to go, the driver is coming." Clark hissed.

"The driver is dealt with, he's checking a non-existent fault with the engine." Harry waved his hand dismissively. "You head inside whilst I repair the mess you made."

Harry looked at the hole Clark had punched through the thick metal and shook his head. He had no idea how Clark expected to pass this off, even if he had just run off with Ryan questions would be asked. He waved a hand repairing the damage and followed the two boys inside.

* * *

Ryan had been so excited by the castle and Clark's training that he had even taken a few lessons himself from Laura. Eventually the excitement of the day caught up with him and Martha and Jonathan took him home to bed.

Clark and Lex had stayed a little longer and just talked with the others.

"You ever wondered what it's like to have a little brother or sister?" Clark asked.

"I did have a little brother." Lex admitted wistfully. "Julian. He died as a baby though."

"I'm sorry Lex."

"It was a long time ago, Clark, besides, I have you now." He laughed as he ruffled the younger man's hair.

"How about you guys, ever had any siblings?" Clark asked.

"I had a brother, Alex. We were separated in a plane crash and didn't find each other for over a decade." Scott admitted.

"I had a sister, her name was Sara." Jean offered.

"Cordelia, Adrienne and Christian, two sisters and a brother." Emma smiled sadly. "And they were all just as stuck up as me." The others laughed as Scott kissed her cheek.

"Only child." Amara shrugged.

"Same here." Dani chimed in.

"A half-brother and half-sister." Lorna told them.

"I'm a clone, but Logan did claim me as his sister." Laura said.

"Technically he was your dad, but he felt you might benefit better from a sibling relationship. He didn't feel he was worthy of claiming father-ship." Harry explained.

"I love him like family." Laura said firmly.

"We had two other sisters." The Cuckoos spoke as one; there was a lot of sadness in their voices.

"How about you Harry?" Lex asked.

"I was born an only child, and my parents were murdered a year later. When I was twelve I rescued a fellow student a year below me and claimed her as my sister. She died a few years later and a few years after that I learned that she was my soul mate."

"Your sister was you soul mate?" Clark asked somewhat disgusted.

"Soul mates aren't about romantic love, Clark." Jean informed him gently. "They are just about love. It strengthens whatever bonds already exist."

"Wait, if she was your soul mate why isn't she here still?" Lex asked. "I thought all your soul mates were immortal."

"Not because of me. Because of the Cuckoos." Harry explained. "It has to do with them being a Phoenix. Something about being bound to the soul of a Phoenix grants all members immortality."

"Which is why Emma is immortal." Jean added. "Scott is my soul mate, Harry bonded Emma to us which makes her and Scott immortal."

"Are they really that common?" Lex asked.

"No, quite rare actually." Harry said. "I have only had six natural soul mates, which might sound like a lot but you have to remember I've been around for millions of years. Everyone in this room except Scott and Jean are bonded because I created the bonds."

"You all bonded to Harry voluntarily?" Clark asked.

Amara smiled at the disbelief in Clark's voice. "You have to understand the circumstances behind it all. For Harry, the Cuckoos, Laura and myself it was more of a necessity that we bond with someone. For me, I had just lost my own soul mate, they had died and it damaged my soul. This was similar to what had been happening to Harry. His own soul mates kept dying and it ripped away at his own soul."

Laura took up the explanation. "The Triplets and I are clones, man is not meant to create life artificially. We had souls but they were damaged, especially the triplets, they only have one soul between them and when their two sisters died it damaged them even further."

Lorna continued. "Dani and myself bonded with Harry because he needed all the help he could get. The Phoenix Council had been doing their best to hold Harry's soul together but he was still fairly eccentric when we met him."

"Please, like he's changed, he's still a certifiable nut job." Dani scoffed.

Lorna rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not we were actually falling for Harry before we bonded. It might have something to do with the way he gave us hope."

"Hope?" Clark asked.

"You remember how Scott can shoot a form of energy from his eyes? Or Emma can change to diamond?"

"The most expensive date in the world." Lex smirked. "Hard to forget."

"One hundred thousand years, Darling." Emma drawled. "We've heard it all."

Lex tipped his glass to her. "Doesn't make it untrue, merely proves the point."

"As I was saying…" Lorna butted back in. "… Dani and I had our powers ripped away. It was a very distressing experience. Fortunately Harry arrived the same day and offered us hope through his magic. The least we could do was help soothe his soul."

"But for the record, Lorna was smitten long before me." Dani smirked.

* * *

Ryan spent the following day with Jonathan and Dani around the farm. At the end of the day Jonathan took his new assistant to the Talon to see Lana and reward him with a drink. What they didn't realise was that they were followed back to the Kent Farm by Ryan's stepfather and his girlfriend.

Ryan knew who was at the door before Martha opened it. He could hear Debra, the girlfriend, thinking warnings at him about how she would kill everyone there if he caused a scene.

"Hello?" Martha asked.

"Yes, I'm with social services, I'm here to pick up Ryan." She said sweetly.

"Oh… we weren't expecting you until tomorrow." Martha said clearly disappointed.

"You know how it is, the wheels turn and turn." She smiled.

"I'll just get his things then."

She headed back to the kitchen where Ryan and Jonathan were sitting with Dani and Amara.

"Who is it Martha?" Jonathan asked.

"Social Services, they are here for Ryan." Martha said quietly.

"At this time of night?" Dani asked not believing what she was hearing. "Without calling ahead?"

"So it seems."

Dani and Amara shared a look. "Wait here." Dani instructed the other three as she and Amara headed off to the front door.

"You're with Social Services?" Dani snapped off irritably.

"Yes, I am. Is Ryan ready?"

"We'll need to see some ID before we send a minor off with a stranger." Amara informed her.

She unclipped the fake ID from her belt and handed it over. "As you can see it's all in order."

"We will see." Amara frowned as she started to walk off with the ID.

"Hey! Wait, where are you going?" Debra started to try and push past Dani but Dani wasn't budging.

"We just need to call your supervisors and confirm your ID. It shouldn't take long." Dani assured her with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Debra started to panic. "There won't be anyone there, it's too late!"

"In that case you will have to come back in the morning when we can verify your identity." Amara said as she stood a few feet behind Dani with the phone in her hand.

The game was up and Debra knew it. These women had her number and knew she wasn't who she claimed to be. She reached into her jacket for her gun but as it came into view she found herself crashing to the ground as Dani, with millennia of experience moved forward and disarmed and disabled her.

"I'll call the Sheriff." Amara said calmly.

"See, son? I told you the girls could handle it." Jonathan's pride filled voice caused Dani to turn her head and wave with a free hand at where Jonathan and Ryan had watched the whole scene. The look of awe on his face said it all.

Unfortunately James Gibson, Ryan's stepfather stepping into the light with a gun already out, interrupted them. He had been watching from nearby and knew he had to intervene.

"Everybody put their hands in the air!" He barked.

Cautiously everyone complied.

"Deb, you stupid bitch, get up and get the boy."

Debra groaned as she stood up gingerly.

***SLAP***

Dani stood there impassively with a red mark on her cheek.

"You really shouldn't have done that." She calmly told the angry Debra.

"Yeah? I'm the one with the gun." Debra spat.

"Yeah, but you pissed off my best friend. She gets upset when people hurt her loved ones." Dani explained as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder.

Behind her Amara had begun to shift forms as her whole body became like molten lava.

"Insolent child!" She hissed. "First you seek to enslave the boy and now you would hurt my lover! You will pay!" She screeched as she moved forward burning through the floor and causing the walls to curl and crack as the heat rose to dangerous levels. Jonathan grabbed Ryan and flung him round the corner before grabbing Martha and following.

Debra fired shot after shot but they had no affect on Amara's molten form.

Amara grabbed the stunned Debra and the woman screamed as her hand was burnt away.

"Amara, you need to calm down honey." Came Harry's voice from outside as he stepped into the light of the porch with his other soul mates, the unconscious body of James Gibson at his feet.

"They hurt Dani!" Amara shouted angrily.

"And they will pay. I promise you. But you know as well as I do that it isn't your place to dispense justice. Leave that to me."

Harry stepped over the unconscious Gibson and took Amara's fiery hand, ignoring the constant burning and healing. "Come on, let us take care of you."

Harry was joined by the Cuckoos who hugged her tightly, completely unaffected by Amara's lava form.

Slowly she calmed down and her body reverted to her natural flesh form.

Without a word Amara and her soul mates vanished.

From the kitchen Scott stepped out from where he had teleported in with Jean, Emma, Clark and Lex and waved a hand at the two inert bodies causing them to vanish.

"Did- did she kill her?" Ryan asked as he tried to come to grips with what he had just seen.

"No. We rarely kill." Scott assured him. "If it is necessary then we have learnt to do so, but we leave it to Harry and Laura. They are the ones who kill those who deserve it."

Jonathan grunted in disapproval causing Ryan to look up at him in askance.

Jonathan ran a hand through his hair with a sigh as he sat down at the table. "I still have reservations about killing people without trial. It just doesn't sit right with me."

"They do get a trial." Jean told him. "They put themselves on trial by their actions. We don't kill unless we know beyond a shadow of a doubt what their intent was when they committed their crimes. But you have to remember that we can read minds. Far deeper than Ryan can. We can see what drives them."

"Couldn't you just change that?" Ryan asked.

"We could, but there are morality issues we as telepaths have with that." Emma answered; fortunately she was dressed in white jeans and a white blouse so she was unlikely to cause any males blood flow problems. "Most people consider it a huge violation when someone reads their thoughts and minds."

"It's different for you Ryan." Jean spoke up seeing Ryan's panicked look. "You don't have any control yet so we make exceptions for that, but you should try and ignore what you hear or keep it private. The triplets are like you. They can hear everything, they have just learnt to ignore it."

"Yes, it is similar to when Mr. Kent here developed his X-Ray vision." Emma continued as she indicated Clark who was leaning against the wall with Lex and Scott. "He had no control and we couldn't hold him responsible if he accidentally saw through our clothes."

Clark blushed as Lex looked at him with a huge grin. "I really need to hear that story."

"They just said 'private'!"

"I don't need details, just the stuff that was embarrassing for you." Lex countered.

"Getting back to my point!" Emma huffed. "If we were to change a persons personality and memories we would be killing what made that person them. It would be the same as removing someone from their body and killing them and then putting someone new in that body."

"But they'd still be alive." Ryan pointed out with a frown.

"Only their body would be." Scott answered. "Their mind would be fundamentally changed so that they were a completely different person."

"I'm a well read person but I would like to point out that this is going over _my _head." Lex chimed in.

"I think my brain is about to leak out my ears." Clark said as he rubbed his temple.

"Well, it is time for bed anyway." Martha smiled. "Ryan, go and wash up."

* * *

Clark and his parents stood with Amara, Dani and Ryan as the SUV drove up the road towards the farm. Inside was the last of Ryan's biological family. An Aunt, it was time for him to leave.

"Lex even did some digging of his own. She's a good person from Edge City." Amara assured the nervous young boy.

"I know. I can hear her from here. She's nervous, like me." Ryan said quietly.

The adults shared a look before moving off to greet Ryan's aunt leaving Clark alone with Ryan.

"I'm not sure I want to go." Ryan said quietly.

"You can always visit. I can visit. Harry will want reports on your exercises." Clark told him.

"I know… It's just… I think I found what I was always looking for. A family."

"I wish you could stay too, Ryan. But Amara says that you need to go with your Aunt for now, it's the law. If it doesn't work out maybe you can come back here."


	11. Chapter 11

A few days later Jonathan received an unwelcome visit from someone working for the Luthors, someone who was trying to find out why Lex was investigating the crash where Clark had saved Lex. Needless to say Jonathan was pissed.

"Lex, you want to explain to me why you are still investigating the crash where you nearly killed Clark?" Jonathan demanded as he stormed into the Luthor Mansion and Lex's office.

"First of all, not here. Second of all I stopped that when I got my answers." Lex said as he hastily got up and immediately turned Jonathan around. "I'll stop by the castle later."

* * *

"Alright, we're here. Explain!"

The Mansion residents as well as Clark and Martha looked on as Jonathan angrily challenged Lex who had literally just walked through the door.

"Like I said, I shut down the investigation when Harry and Clark revealed the truth to me." Lex shrugged.

"What right did you have to investigate in the first place?"

"Oh, flag on the play!" Dani called out as she stepped up between the two men. "It was _his_ life, _his_ moment that he was investigating. He didn't know Clark's secret back then. He just knew something had happened and he was desperate to find out what."

"Actually, I suspected Clark had something to do with it, for a while I thought he might be an angel on Earth and I was worried that this was a second chance, I didn't want to mess it up, I just thought I needed more guidance." Lex admitted.

"See! He knew!"

"Jonathan, I think Lex has proved himself over the past few weeks." Martha called out from between Celeste and Mindee. All three of the girls remembered the love and affection Mrs. Kent had given them as they matured and they didn't want to give that up. So long as Martha lived she would be their mother in this universe, or at least a beloved aunt.

"How do we know he isn't carrying on more experiments somewhere?"

"Because Dominic would have mentioned them to get you to reveal the secret." Lex pointed out.

Jonathan fumed on the spot but knew he couldn't push further without angering his wife.

"Is this why you refused the tickets I gave Clark?" Lex asked.

"No Lex." Jonathan bit out. "I refused them because they came from-"

"AHEM!" There was a lot of throat clearing from behind him. He glanced around to see a lot of stern faces glaring at him.

Lex just snorted humourlessly. "Mr. Kent, I didn't give Clark those tickets to win your favour. I gave them to Clark because he is my friend and he wanted to try something different with his dad. Something I never got to do."

"Just the same, we have our tradition."

"Then do both. I've heard all these stories about how a father and son are supposed to go to sports games together as a bonding experience, I just wanted Clark to have that opportunity in style."

"I loved taking my kids to games." Dani said from where she was standing to the side still. "Of course I preferred American Football, but I was happy to sit through a baseball game for them."

Dani was smiling in fond remembrance of years past. Then she noticed Jonathan and Lex staring at her slightly confused. "What?"

"You had kids?" Lex asked.

"Guys, I'm like… thousands of years old! All of us have been mothers, except Scott and Harry… they've been fathers." She added in a conspiratorial whisper.

"All of you?" Jonathan asked weakly. He looked at the fourteen year old triplets and swallowed uncomfortably.

"Some of ours are still alive and out there doing good work." Phoebe shrugged.

"Hopefully Jessica is behaving herself." Celeste frowned.

"She has the others to help her. This is 'us' time." Mindee huffed as she snuggled in closer to Martha.

"Don't you miss them?" Martha asked.

"Sometimes, but we will see them again eventually. They are old enough to take care of themselves, they have kids of their own after all!" Phoebe laughed.

"Girls, perhaps we should change the topic." Emma interjected lightly. "I believe we are about to cause Jonathan and Lex an aneurism."

"Liquor." Lex whispered harshly. "I need a strong drink."

"Ditto." Jonathan muttered.

Scott stood up and went and poured the two men a drink.

"Changing topics slightly, I had an interesting question from Chloe today." Lorna piped up. "She wanted to know if I had ever heard of a human spontaneously combusting."

"Why would Chloe ask you?" Clark asked worriedly.

"She knows I'm a witch." Lorna smirked.

"WHAT!"

"Jeeze, calm down Clark. I don't think Lex or Jonathan have recovered from discovering the triplets are parents!" Dani grimaced. "God knows how they'll take it when they find out they are also great grand mothers." She mumbled afterwards.

It was apparent she had been over heard as both men downed their drinks before slamming the glasses in front of Scott.

"Why does Chloe know you are a witch?" Clark demanded.

"Because I told her." Lorna enunciated as though he were a five year old.

"Why would you do that?! Does she know about me?"

"Please Clark." Lorna glared. "I would hope you think better of me than that. She only knows about me. She doesn't know about anyone else."

"Pete knows about me… he is still giving me headaches though. Keeps bugging me with question after question." Scott groused.

"Lana seems to be slightly skittish around us." Mindee pouted.

"We could have so much fun together." Phoebe sighed.

"_So_ much fun." Celeste said with a far from innocent leer at Clark.

"Behave girls." Martha laughed as she swatted Celeste's bum lightly.

"I can't believe this." Clark said in a daze.

"Why?" Laura asked quietly. "They haven't broken the trust of any who have told. They aren't running in fear of them."

"Lana is!" Clark argued.

"Clark that really doesn't count. They put _me_ on edge." Lex interjected before downing another glass.

"Ditto." Jonathan agreed before following suit.

"Jonathan, maybe you should slow down." Martha called over.

"God no! Not after tonight, I _need_ this!"

Martha just scowled.

"Don't worry, you can make him suffer in the morning with the hangover." Dani grinned.

"I still have to sleep next to him tonight!"

"By the time they are finished they will be passed out on the couch." Dani assured her. "Enjoy the freedom of a free bed for the night."

Laura indicated for Clark to follow her so when he got close she teleported them up to the top of Clark's jumping tower, the former Astronomy Tower.

"Lorna, Scott and Cuckoos told your friends so that they could test the waters for you, so to speak. They wanted you to see for yourself that when confronted by the supernatural or unknown they wouldn't immediately reach for the pitchforks and torches." Laura explained as she sat on the stone bench that lined the turret.

"Being a witch is a lot different than being an alien." Clark pointed out.

"Not when they also told them that they are thousands of years old and from another reality."

"No wonder Lana is freaking out." Clark muttered.

"No, that is literally the fault of the triplets." She sighed. "I told them I should be the one to tell her about myself, but they insisted. They are very forceful and often confusing. It doesn't help that they are trying to convince her to share you with them."

"Are they really serious about that?" Clark groaned.

"Yes, they want you and they want you to be happy." She smiled. "They aren't trying to force you into a relationship, they are just trying to help you broaden your mind."

"They aren't going to expect me to date guys are they?" He asked suddenly, he was clearly worried.

Laura giggled. "No, Harry and Scott never had relations with men or each other. I've never had relations with women other than my bond mates."

"Other women?"

"The soul bond encourages love, due to the nature of our relationship with Harry that has bled into the bonds between us and we love each other that way as well." She explained matter-of-factly.

Clark was still blushing.

"Let's get back to Lana and the secrets." Laura smirked.

Clark's blush faded but the frown returned. "I just don't want to lose my friends."

"They wouldn't be very good friends if a little thing like this made them turn away."

"Little?!" Clark exclaimed.

"You don't look any different than a human, you won't be changing your personality at all. They already know you are adopted and the only thing you _do _know about your origins is that they aren't on Earth."

"It's not that simple."

"Really? Why? We know for a fact that none of your friends have reacted badly to finding out about magic and that there are beings from other realities in town. Ones that are thousands of years old. Why would you be too much of a stretch?"

Laura sighed; she and the others knew that as good a father as Jonathan was he had managed to instil a deep sense of paranoia and mistrust of humans in his son. Dani was trying to work on it but he was a hard nut to crack.

"Eventually we will let your friends in on the rest of our secrets. Namely our mutant powers and Harry being able to make magicals. How do you think they will feel in a thousand years or whenever they figure out what you can do that you didn't trust them even though they proved themselves with our secrets?" Laura was getting fairly irritated at this point.

"A thousand years?" Clark doubted that.

"Take a closer look at your parents, Clark. They have already begun to de-age. It's something that Harry emits and he's been doing it for millions of years. It's why we aren't all elderly looking. Eventually he will start sending out a potion that does the same thing for the rest of the world."

"My friends will live for a thousand years?" Clark asked, there was a little hope now.

"More like four thousand. That's the average length a mortal soul can survive in the mortal realm before insanity sets in." Laura said dismissively. "But don't change the subject. Can you really imagine living all those centuries without telling your friends? Always having to hide who you really are?

"The Cuckoos will tell you that even now, Lana is getting pretty hurt by the fact that you won't open up to her."

"And what if she is so disgusted by me that she turns me into the government?" Clark demanded heatedly.

Laura stared at him unblinkingly for a moment. "I guess I was wrong." She sighed. "It seems like _you_ are the bad friend."

Clark was left feeling like he had been slapped as Laura teleported out.

* * *

"Doctor Potter? Are you here?" Chloe called as she knocked on the Doctor's Office door the next day at lunch.

"Come on in Miss Sullivan." She heard his English accented voice call out.

"Hi… erm, Lorna Dane said you might be able to give me some answers." She said nervously.

Harry was at his desk filling out various reports for the State. He couldn't wait to conquer the universe. One of his first acts would be to scare the life out of bureaucrats for the torture they put him through. Voldemort had nothing on paperwork.

"Take a seat. She told me you would be by." He said as he put his pen down and stretched his fingers.

"So… spontaneous human combustion?"

Harry smiled; he loved teaching. "Name one thing that is spontaneous."

Chloe was taken aback, she had been hoping to get information, not give it. "Erm… creation of the universe?"

"How about we start with something that won't lead to a philosophical debate." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Bursting into song?"

"You ever met a man named Alexander 'Xander' Harris?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes.

"Not that I remember."

"Hmm… well, there is always a reason for that person bursting into song. They have one running through their head. They have a sudden burst of adrenalin. Try something else."

"How about that thing in Jurassic Park? Frogs changing sex."

"Which they did to continue the population due to a lack of the opposite sex.

"There is no such thing as spontaneous. Everything happens for a reason or in response to something. The trick is finding out _what_ caused the reaction or response.

"Which brings us back to your case. What appears to be spontaneous human combustion is merely human combustion."

"So someone set her on fire?"

"Or something accidentally sparked a fire."

"Right." Chloe nodded.

"But… there are some fatal flaws in your theory." Harry raised a finger.

"Oh?"

"If it was combustion then why wasn't the bed burnt?"

"Oh." She said quietly. "Then why would she turn to ash?"

"It is not something that naturally occurs in humans." Harry warned.

"You know what did this?" Chloe asked with a hint of accusation.

"No, I just know that it is likely not a naturally occurring event by current human standards. If you continue to investigate this then take Lorna with you. She will be expecting your call."

"She will?" Chloe asked in surprise.

"Would you really want to face an assailant with unknown powers alone or would you rather have someone like Lorna with mystical powers there to defend and aid you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

If there was one disappointing fact about Clark and his friends it was that none of them could lie. Especially when confronted with the truth.

"Well… you tried." Harry chuckled. "Tell her what I said and she will confirm you can talk to me." Harry grinned mischievously. "Then ask her how she got her powers."

* * *

"Really Lex, a deserted alley?" Lionel Luthor asked condescendingly as he approached his son who was standing by his car with a beautiful red head. "Must you really be so clichéd?"

"I doubt you would want to have me deliver this package in the lobby of the LuthorCorp building… Dad." Lex countered with a bored air.

"Oh Lex, what have you done now?" Lionel tutted in mock disappointment.

"Wow, you were right Lex, he is an egotistical bastard." The red head spoke up.

Lex didn't know whether to laugh or blush.

"Young lady, you would be doing yourself a favour if you waited in the car." Lionel chided.

"But then I wouldn't get to witness the rest of this interesting meeting." Jean smiled insincerely.

"I see you have moved on to women with backbones." Lionel said with mocking pride.

"He really is annoying, isn't he?"

"Maybe we should finish this up before she forces you to do something you'll regret Dad." Lex interjected quickly. He knew Dani liked to push peoples buttons and so did Harry but he hadn't expected this from Jean of all people.

Lionel was a little confused by his son's statement but shored up his stance and made the best of it. "Very well, what was it you dragged me out here for?"

Lex opened the boot of the car. "Just returning your lap dog. In the future don't bother sending anymore drones to harass myself or the Kents."

Lex walked to the front of the car where Jean joined him and hooked her arm in his elbow before they walked off leaving his father to deal with the hogtied and embarrassed Dominic in the trunk of his car.

* * *

"Pete, you got a minute?"

"Sure Coach."

"Meet me in my office."

Five minutes later Pete was dressed and sitting opposite Scott.

"I am increasing the amount of secret information you know about." Scott said seriously. "Stick with Chloe Sullivan this afternoon and she will introduce you to another magical… well, _she_ won't but she knows a magical and they will introduce themselves to you."

"Wait… there are _more_ of you?!"

Scott smiled slightly. "Pete, I would be greatly understating things if I said I was the tip of the iceberg."

* * *

"You're a witch?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

Lorna smiled at Pete's awestruck expression.

"Who told you about Lorna?" Chloe asked, her investigative reporting hat slipping on.

"I… erm… can't say." Pete shuffled uncomfortably.

"But-"

"You never told Pete about me, did you?" Lorna said pointedly.

"You were keeping a secret?"

Pete looked at Lorna desperately.

"Coach Summers is a wizard. He told Pete. And yes, he can know that Harry Potter is also a wizard."

"What did he mean when he said I should ask where you got your powers?" Chloe asked.

"He made me a witch, just like he made Scott a wizard. Man that was a long time ago." She smiled wistfully.

"Made you a witch?" Chloe asked in disbelief.

"Cool! Can he make me into one?"

Chloe looked at Pete with slight disbelief.

"Sure, he can make you into a witch. Are you sure you want to be a girl though?" Lorna smirked.

Pete's eyes widened. "Wizard! I mean wizard!"

"Eventually he will offer you the chance. You need to prove you have a level head as at the moment we are living in secret and don't want to reveal ourselves." She looked straight at Chloe as she spoke.

"Hey, my lips are sealed." Chloe said miming zipping her lips.

"Which makes you one step closer to getting offered the opportunity." Lorna smiled.

"Wait, are there more wizards and witches?" Pete asked.

"A few."

"Have we met any?" Chloe asked.

"Yes, but it is up to them to introduce themselves." Lorna warned. "Now, let's go deal with this Mr. Tyler Randall."

"How do you know about him? Clark only told me an hour ago."

"Martha called Harry and told him who told me."

"Martha Kent? You know the Kents?"

"I know Clark, you already saw that. I also know the Kents. They are good people."

"Do they know your secret? Did you make them wizards?"

Lorna just stared at Chloe with a raised eyebrow.

"Right." Chloe took a deep breath. "Questions that aren't mine to ask."

"Good girl." Lorna teased which caused Chloe to scowl. "Now, you will be meeting another magical today. She is more than a magical though."

Suddenly a tall blonde woman appeared next to Lorna. Just like Lorna she was stunningly beautiful.

Which meant Chloe had to nudge Pete to stop the drooling.

"I am Brunhilde. I am a Valkyrie. It is good to meet you." She smiled.

"That was blunt." Pete shrugged.

"Valkyrie? As in Norse mythology?" Chloe asked.

"Correct, all though I am far from mythical as you can clearly see."

"Aren't you supposed to have wings… or a horse with wings?"

"I used to have a horse with wings." She said with a fond smile. "But they are not as immortal as I am and I have chosen not to replace my old friend."

"So I guess this guy doing an impression of the Grim Reaper is why you are involved?"

"Huh?" Pete intelligently posed his query.

"Valkyries were the ones who would carry fallen warriors from the battlefield back to the Halls of Valhalla. Norse versions of the Angels of Death." Lorna explained.

"Oh… death?!" Pete asked worriedly.

"Do not worry, young man." Hilde smiled. "I do not choose the time of your death, that is the job of my husband."

"We aren't giving out that much information yet, Hilde." Lorna warned.

"I see." She nodded in understanding.

"Now that's not playing nice!" Chloe pouted petulantly.

"I apologise, I was not informed of all the rules." Hilde smirked.

"Let's just go and find this Randall guy so we can call it a night." Lorna sighed as she turned and began walking off.

* * *

"How can you be sure he'll come here?" Pete asked as they walked down the halls of the Smallville Medical Centre.

"Come on Pete, it's obvious!" Chloe scoffed. "He thinks he's an Angel of Death or something. They always go after the sick."

"Really? If it was me I'd go after the worst bastards Mom puts in jail." He shrugged.

"Pete!"

"What? We already covered that Hilde's husband goes around killing people… don't know why he does it but considering she's friends with Lorna I think I can hold off on the judging this time." He said defensively.

"Actually my husband usually only deals with those who seek to cheat death or take death into their own hands and commit murder." Hilde elaborated. "That said, he does tend to follow the route that young Pete has chosen in that he brings an end to the murderers and rapists."

"Check it out, isn't that our guy?" Lorna asked as she pointed out the man entering a nearby patient's room.

"Yeah, that's him." Chloe confirmed.

"Very well. Wait here and I will subdue him and escort him from the premises if he is the man we seek." Hilde instructed as she gave Lorna a nod and headed off.

"Wait, what if he tries to kill her? He only needs to touch her." Chloe argued.

"Hilde is a true immortal. It would take a lot more than what this guy can do to kill her. Hurt her, sure. But not kill her." Lorna assured them. This was actually based on Clark's report that Tyler Randall had tried to use his powers on him, they had some effect but clearly not enough as he quickly recovered.

Seconds later Hilde exited the room.

"It is done. He is secure and the patient is quite safe and will make a full recovery." Hilde smiled.

"Full recovery?" Lorna smirked..

"It seemed the least I could do considering I did wake him."

"And we call Harry impulsive."

"How can you have possibly managed to do anything? You were only gone- oh wait, never mind." Chloe trailed off with a blush as the answer popped in her head.

"Well, now that is done, I suppose you want to see where we put him." Hilde sighed.

"Damn straight!" Pete grinned.

* * *

After a shocking incident of teleportation - shocking because Lorna had grabbed their shoulders without warning and they vanished – Pete and Chloe found themselves in the most advanced dungeon they could imagine. The basic structure was of a castle dungeon with stonewalls and chains all over the place, but there were computer monitors and what looked like fluorescent lights everywhere.

"I see it is time for show and tell." A tall redheaded woman smiled as she walked up.

"Weren't you at the hospital one time?" Chloe asked.

"I occasionally consult on special cases. Dr. Jean Grey, but you can call me Jean." She smiled as she shook their hands.

"And you spend your free time acting as a prison warden?" Chloe asked sceptically.

"In part, yes. I am also studying the effects of the meteor rocks and looking for ways to counter them." She led them past each cell, there weren't many but they were easily recognisable.

"Wait, is that Coach Arnold?" Pete asked.

"Yes, he developed a power involving fire. The technical term is: Pyro-kinetic. That in itself is not a problem with training but he decided to use his powers to try and kill several of your teachers."

"Including Coach Summers, Coach Kinney and Principal Frost." Lorna added.

"Is Smallville a natural breeding ground for psychopaths or are they like this because of the meteor rocks?" Chloe asked.

Jean walked them back past a few cells. "Some of these people, like Greg Arkin here, are compelled by the effects of the meteor rocks. Our current understanding is that Greg was a stalker but the meteors pushed him to act on his obsession. Had we caught him earlier we would have been able to help him before he actively went after Miss. Lang.

"Others like Coach Arnold were always abusive, the powers just gave them the ability to be more so.

"Then there are those like Sean Kelvin who have a fairly reasonable personality but when given power and a choice they decide to abuse it and others for their own personal gain."

"You make it sound like there are a lot more infected out there." Chloe frowned.

"Absolutely, you have to remember that Smallville was blanketed by these rocks. Then you have to take into account all the visitors that may have come or been here at the time, the morbid tourists who came and took a rock as a souvenir, also the governments and the scientists. There could be meteor infected all across the globe by now."

"Whoa." Pete gasped. "Do they all have powers like these do?"

"No. Some actually get severely ill, like the Kent's friend Earl Jenkins. Others appear completely unaffected like Lana Lang who wore a piece of meteor rock as a necklace for over a decade."

"And then there's people like me who appear to have no powers but a startling physical change."

Pete and Chloe spun around to see a smirking Lex Luthor standing there.

"Luthor!" Pete spat. "This is your set up?"

"Pete!" Hilde admonished. "Show some manners."

"This is just what a Luthor would do. Show you something that looks good but behind your back he's just getting ready to stab you and take away everything." He said angrily.

"Pete, I have no power here. This is someone else's business altogether." Lex explained, he was practically pleading for Pete to understand and accept his explanation.

"I'm sure you don't have any direct connections, but I'm also positive that you own this place lock, stock and barrel through whatever side businesses and shell companies you have." He sneered.

"Pete! Enough!" Hilde snapped. "This place is owned by my husband. Lex Luthor has no more power here than you do."

But Pete Ross was fuelled by over a decade of stories about how the Luthors were responsible for his families troubles and how they did the same to others without a hint of guilt.

"No. I know Luthors. Anything he is involved in is sick and wrong and I won't have anything to do with it." Pete declared as he stomped away to the nearest door marked exit.

"Pete!" Chloe cried out.

"Jean." Lorna spoke quietly and sadly to her redheaded friend.

Jean reached out with her telepathy, searching as shallowly as she could to determine just how much of a threat Pete Ross would be to them.

She didn't need to go far before she encountered the wall of hate directed at the Luthors. Given the chance and the ability, Pete Ross would happily kill any Luthor.

She touched his mind and put him to sleep, catching him with her telekinesis as he fell.

"Pete!" Lex called as he darted forward to catch the falling boy.

"It's ok Lex, I've got him." Jean assured him as Pete rose from Lex's arms to float on air.

"What happened to him?" Chloe asked as she darted forward and grabbed Pete's limp hand.

"I made him sleep, Chloe. He was angry and a threat to our secrecy. I scanned his mind lightly to ascertain his intentions and discovered he intended to tell his mother about us." Jean explained. "We will need to remove his memories of our abilities and what he has seen and learnt of us. We will also need to make arrangements for his family to move away from Smallville."

"But he's our friend! You can't just-"

"Chloe, we really don't have a choice." Lorna interrupted compassionately.

"So you'll just wipe his mind because he disagrees with you? You won't even talk to him? How many others have you done this too? Have you messed with my memories? Is this why I can't remember being injured at Lex's Mansion?" She demanded, her anger suddenly turning to fear.

"Chloe! Stop!" Lorna said loudly and firmly. "First of all, none of us has ever altered your memory. The reason you can't remember is because of the head injury you incurred."

"If you want I can help you recover those memories." Jean offered.

Lorna gave Jean a grateful nod. "Secondly, Jean's scan determined his personality type and his ability to overcome his limitations. The only other options are to take him prisoner and use behavioural modification therapy or to simply rewrite his personality."

"Both of those are repugnant to me as a doctor and a telepath." Jean admitted with a wrinkled nose of disgust.

"This option allows him to live his life happily, it will even take him away from the Luthors and give him better opportunities for his life." Lorna finished.

"Lorna, Jean, Hilde, could I speak to you privately for a second?" Lex frowned.

"Chloe, we will be speaking telepathically for a few moments, so we may not respond right away." Jean explained.

"_Ok, Lex, just think what you want to say. I've linked us all."_ Jean informed the bald headed billionaire.

"_I thought only magicals could do this?"_

"_This is my mutant power, not magic."_ Jean smirked.

"_Oh, well, I was thinking that maybe introducing Chloe to Harry as Death might help here. Meeting a being of that much power is like meeting God; it will change you. It might even help with convincing Pete."_

"_It doesn't matter what Pete is confronted with, he will never trust a Luthor and will always look for revenge."_ Jean said sadly. _"He'd even risk his soul."_

"_Chloe might respond better. Despite her sometimes-abrasive personality and obsessive-compulsive tendency to uncover the truth, she does accept things better and she doesn't have any grudges… except against her mother maybe. As long as she knows the truth will be revealed eventually or that there is a good reason for hiding the truth, she can be reasoned with."_ Lorna explained.

"_So I should get Harry?"_ Hilde asked.

"_Not yet, we will finish up here and invite her upstairs to meet everyone and let her in on the whole secret."_ Jean said.

"_Wait… what about Clark's secret?"_ Lex asked.

"_I will explain the situation to Harry and ask him to try and convince Clark. If he doesn't agree then we will just have to avoid mentioning it."_ Lorna offered.

* * *

Clark barely realised he had made it home he was in such a daze. Pete had approached him with the news that he and his family were moving to Wichita. What really hurt Clark was that Pete was excited about it. His mother had been offered a Federal Judgeship and his father had headed out to look for work whilst they packed up. Pete would be gone by the end of the semester.

He soon realised that his parents weren't home. He also remembered that he was supposed to be at the castle for training.

A few seconds of super speed and he was standing in the living area with Harry's family and his own parents. There were two people there who Clark was shocked to see and were clearly shocked to see Clark arrive in such a manner.

"And that is why you should always knock before entering a room." Dani smirked as she looked between Lana, Chloe and Clark, all of whom had gobsmacked expressions.

"I-I-I… I can explain!" Clark stuttered.

"Oh this ought to be bloody marvellous!" Harry grinned as he put an arm around Lorna and Amara and settled in to watch.

"You can explain how you managed to arrive at what appears to be either super speed or teleportation?" Chloe asked with wide eyes. "Although I haven't seen any of them cause gusts of wind when they teleport." She said as she jerked a thumb at the castle residents.

"You aren't a wizard or witch like they are? Are you Clark?" Lana frowned in thought. "Meteor infected?"

Clark turned to Harry with a look of pleading.

Harry just laughed. "Hell no! I want to hear your explanation."

"Just tell the truth son." Jonathan sighed. "Jean already assured us that they can be trusted. They've known about magic for a few weeks so I think they've proven themselves."

"Clark, we've always taught you to hide your powers because we were afraid the wrong people would find out and they would take you away from us. But you were young and your friends were young. Your friends were too young to know how to keep a secret." Martha explained. "You and your friends are older now. You are capable of keeping secrets and so are your friends. Maybe it is time you started to learn the difference between keeping a secret safe and dangerous paranoia."

Clark was still torn. The look of hurt on Chloe and Lana's faces was clear. Clark couldn't trust them.

Emma decided to step in. "Miss Lang, Miss Sullivan, Mr. Kent has a huge secret. This secret does not really change anything about the person you know. He is still the same decent and honourable young man you've have known over the years. This secret is a danger, to _him._ His real worry is not that you will tell others, it is that you will see him differently, that you will fear him."

"Is it any bigger than sitting in the same room as Death?" Chloe asked with a raised eyebrow.

Clark's head shot up. "You told them about that?!"

Harry just shrugged. "I also told them that eventually if they continue to prove their worth then I will make them magicals as well. I also told them that I eventually intend to rule the world. Of course I already rule North Korea." He grinned.

Clark had no way of knowing that Harry was being serious and not joking. But Harry had learnt from his home world and that of his soul mates that North Korea was easy to conquer as they were very insular. They guarded their borders heavily and took great pains to control the flow of information into and out of the country.

Death's conquest of Earth had begun.

"How do you feel about Harry? Now that you know just who and what he is?" Amara asked the girls.

"I already knew that Hilde was married to someone who dealt with Death at a high level, I just didn't know who." Chloe admitted. "It's weird to think that that the eccentric school doctor is actually Death though."

"How did you know that?" Lana asked curiously.

"She was with us earlier today and she let it slip."

"Let slip?" Jean asked the Valkyrie with an amused look.

"I was bored. I don't mind hiding who we are but I was also fed up with Clark's gloomy mood over dealing with his friends." She threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Anyway," Lorna interrupted, "Lana, what about you? How do you feel?"

"I've only known for half an hour, I guess I am still trying to process it." The dark haired beauty frowned. "I don't fear Harry at all. None of you have been threatening to me… aside from you three." She shot the triplets a scowl that they just smiled happily at. "If Harry really is Death, then I can't see Clark's secret being any worse."

"Same here." Chloe offered as they looked at Clark expectantly.

But Clark had one other issue with telling them. One that Lana might truly hate him for.

"For mercy's sake!" Emma exclaimed as she read the thoughts racing at the front of Clark's mind. "Girls, Clark is an alien from another planet, he arrived in the meteor storm and Lana he is scared you will hate him for arriving in the meteor storm that killed your parents." She explained, finishing with a breath of relief.

Clark looked at her with betrayal.

"Wait… we grew up with Clark. I've known him since the eighth grade, right?" She turned to Lana.

"Right, I've known him for longer, Pete too. He's lived across from me ever since my aunt took me in." She confirmed.

"So Clark must have been what? Two, three years old when he arrived?"

Clark was confused. He had expected recrimination, anger, shouting and so on. Instead there was a session of deductive reasoning taking place and his origins were being accepted as fact.

"We think so." Martha nodded.

"He didn't come with a birth certificate though." Jonathan smirked, he was enjoying the frank discussion about his sons secret, almost as much as the look on his sons face.

"Was he super intelligent when he arrived? Could he walk and talk?" Chloe asked.

"He could walk a bit. He seemed to know a few words, but they weren't English. We think they may have been his native planets language, words like 'mom', 'dad' and so on." Jonathan explained.

Chloe turned and glared at Clark. "In that case, how would you be responsible for the meteor shower? You were a victim like Lana. She lost both parents, you seem to have lost everything."

"See, I told you she had some common sense." Lorna stage whispered to Emma. Chloe just glared.

"My parents died in an accident, a horrible accident which I still have nightmares about." Lana said softly. "But unless you can prove you are responsible then all you are doing by claiming you are is hurting me. Trying to make me angry because it wasn't a freak accident, it was the malicious act of a monster." Lana was getting a bit upset. "So you don't come from Earth, is that human body a disguise? Do you have green skin? Shoot lasers from your eyes? Eat children in their sleep? Get over yourself Clark!" She shouted as she stormed from the room.

"I should have just kept it a secret." Clark muttered.

"Oh god! Would someone _please_ kick his arse!" Dani moaned loudly.

"Excuse me, I'll go and check on Lana." Lorna said as she wriggled off the couch. She was quickly replaced by a grinning Laura.

"Nothing doing Missy. You're coming with." Lorna smirked as she pulled her friend up.

Mindee quickly teleported into her place. "Heaven." She sighed happily as she snuggled into Harry's sighed.

"See Clark, that's what honesty gets you." Dani pointed at the purring third of the Cuckoos. "Three girls in less than ten seconds and plenty more willing to fill the void."

"Ahem!"

"What?" Dani asked Martha with an innocent face that nobody bought.

"I don't believe that is the lesson Clark needs to learn." Martha informed her with a wry smile.

"Please, this me using the carrot, if this doesn't work I'm breaking out the stick!" Dani said dismissively.

"I don't believe Mr. Kent is quite into that scene." Emma commented drolly.

Clark and Chloe's eyes widened comically before Chloe snorted a laugh.

"'Scuse me, I think Lana could use some cheering up and that might help." She giggled as she stood up and moved to the door.

"I'll come with." Phoebe offered.

"I suppose Clark needs to see the world as it should truly be." Harry sighed. "Martha, Jonathan, with your permission I would like to take Clark away on a trip. We might be gone for a week or so but you have my word that he will be perfectly safe."

"What about school?" Martha asked.

"Clark will be learning some very important things, Emma can handle his absence easily enough."

"Where will you take him?" Jonathan asked.

"On a trip through time, space and reality. His life so far has revolved around this farm and town. I just want to broaden his horizons, we won't do a lot, just enough to blow his mind and make him more open to other ideas."

"I believe I will accompany you husband. I would enjoy seeing our children again. Any messages?" She asked the room.

"I guess the usual messages of love." Jean shrugged.

"And pictures!" Celeste added.

"We'll see you in a bit then." Harry smiled as Harry, Hilde and Clark simply vanished.

"Umfph! I hate it when he does that." Celeste moaned as she pushed herself up from where she had fallen into Harry's now vacant spot.

"More cuddles for me!" Dani grinned as she quickly slipped in.


	12. Chapter 12

Clark suddenly found himself standing in a field of grass. There were exceptionally tall trees nearby.

"Dani is going to be ever so jealous. She loves visiting here!" Hilde commented with a grin as she gazed over Clark's shoulder.

Clark quickly turned and froze.

He knew Harry and the others had told him that Harry could travel through time, but he had never expected to come face to face with a brontosaurus.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, behind the conscious part of his brain that had stalled due to the dinosaur in front of him, Clark wondered just how long they would be gone.

* * *

"Everyone get inside the building now!" Scott shouted at the students who were gathering around the scene.

In the parking lot the car belonging to Class President Candidate, Paul Chan, sat with its driver door open as Paul slumped unconscious. All around the car there were bees still buzzing, but what was worse was the mass of dead bees in the car and the numerous sting marks on Paul's body.

"_Emma, Jean, I need a telepathic illusion so I can deal with Paul and these bees."_ He sent to his two wives whom he was always connected to.

"I've got Paul." Jean said as she appeared. She had volunteered to cover for Harry as the School's doctor in his absence. "Emma and the Cuckoos have you covered to deal with the bees."

Neither former X-Man complained about the bees currently stinging them. Compared to the pain they had suffered in their lives this was nothing more than a tickle. Jean would easily heal them later anyway.

With Jean and Paul gone, Scott now faced the challenge as to how to handle the left over bees.

"_Scott, get out of there. I've had James call Animal Control and the Sheriff's office. We'll let them handle it."_ Emma warned.

* * *

"Can we find a Velociraptor? A T-Rex? How about a Triceratops?" Clark asked excitedly.

Harry and Hilde just smiled. It was easy to forget that Clark wasn't even fifteen yet. He was still a child, it was good to see him like this and they very much regretted not bringing Jonathan and Martha along. He made a note to show them the memories of Clark as he should be.

* * *

"Are we sure this is a meteor infected attack?" Lana asked as they all sat in the castle living room.

"In this town we always start off with the assumption that it's a meteor infected attack." Lorna laughed.

By the time the authorities had arrived at the school, the remaining bees had flown off. All that was left was the evidence of damage done to Paul and the dead bee corpses.

"How do we figure out the culprit though? Unless you intend to read the minds of every student in the school." Lana said worriedly.

"That won't be necessary, we just need to do a bit of deductive reasoning and then, if necessary establish a plan to draw the attacker out." Emma assured her. "Miss Sullivan? Care to begin?"

Chloe couldn't help the blush on her cheeks. Emma had resorted to her usual skimpy outfits as she asserted she was not going to restrict herself if the girls were to be frequent visitors like Clark, Martha and Jonathan, of which the elder two were also present.

"Erm… I would start with what we know about Paul." She said as she affixed her eyes firmly on Emma's. "He's very active in trying to help other students, he's started a few campaigns for things the school needs, and most importantly he is running for Student Body President.

"Which means that the other candidates are potential victims and suspects." She finished.

"Exactly. So we need to begin an investigation into those two candidates and enter our own candidate to divert the attackers attention." Scott explained.

"Who would be crazy enough and believable enough to do that?" Chloe scoffed.

Scott, Emma and Laura just turned to look at Lana with sly smiles.

Lana looked horrified. "Me? Why would I be any better? What about Phoebe? Couldn't we wait for Clark to come back?" She asked frantically.

"Clark won't be back for at least a week." Scott told her. "By then another attack might have occurred."

"You are also the single student in the school who could win by a landslide if they ran against Paul Chan." Emma added. "Not only are you the most popular girl in school, you don't belong to any cliques, despite being a cheerleader, you are fair to everyone and you are involved in just as many school concerns as Mr. Chan is."

"We'll stick with you and protect you as well." Phoebe offered.

"We can even manage your campaign!" Celeste clapped her hands gleefully.

"And you can sleep over here so you can't be attacked at home." Mindee added.

"A sleep over? We haven't had a sleep over in… wow… I really can't remember." Dani said with surprise.

"At least a thousand years." Scott sighed. Sleep over's were not his favourite thing. They usually involved him getting kicked out of the house, and Harry wasn't here so he couldn't go drinking with him. "Jonathan, you and I are going to go somewhere and do something manly. Like… buying tractors, firing guns." He told the farmer.

"It can't be that bad." Jonathan scoffed.

"You have a son. Not only have I had to put up with this lot, but I have also had quite a few daughters. Trust me, you do not want to be here."

"Go on Jonathan." Martha smiled. "Whilst the girls are having their fun we ladies will indulge ourselves as well."

* * *

"There's nothing here." Clark said as he looked at the barren landscape around him. There was no plant life or vegetation, just rock and dirt and dust. There were no clouds in the sky but it was relatively dark and the sun was more orange than yellow.

"This is my home world. Where I was born millions of years ago." Harry said. "Up until about half a million years ago, I was the only life form around. It had been that way since humans and other life had died out naturally."

"Didn't they have the technology to stop it?"

"Everything that lives can die."

"Except you." Clark pointed out.

Harry smiled softly. "I am both alive and dead, according to magic at least."

"Why show me this?"

"So that you know we all have our limitations, even me. Everything has a beginning and end."

"We aren't going to be here long are we?"

"No, this was just a brief stop. There isn't any oxygen here and I have no intention of providing it for a long period."

* * *

Much to Lana's surprise and dismay, her picture was posted around the school before anyone even arrived. There were posters everywhere declaring her candidacy.

"'The Woman of Tomorrow'?" She asked Phoebe as she read the campaign slogan.

"That was Lex's idea. He initially had the 'Man of Tomorrow' but that wouldn't work for you." She explained.

"You have to pull out."

The Cuckoos and Lana turned to find fellow candidate, Sasha Woodman glaring at Lana.

"Why would she do that?" Celeste asked. "Not only does Lana have a good chance of winning but she also has plenty of experience serving the student body."

"She's a cheerleader!" Sasha exclaimed. "People will only vote for her because she dresses in skimpy clothes and bounces around."

Lana looked down at her current outfit with a frown. She was wearing jeans a halter-top and a light cardigan. Her collarbone was clearly on display but that was it.

"Not now! When she cheers!" Sasha explained with exasperation.

"Is that your quote for the paper?" Chloe asked from behind the bespectacled girl.

Sasha spun around. "What?"

"I'm getting quotes from all the candidates. I was coming to get Lana's but is that your quote? That Lana will win because she is hot?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Can I get a quote then?"

"Yes you can tell the people this: The students of Smallville High need to face up to the fact that they need a leader. Not a cheerleader or fashionista but someone who can truly take them to higher heights. I am that person. Vote for me."

"Ok," Chloe nodded as she got that down. "And your opinions on the other candidates?"

"What candidates?" She scoffed. "No one else is actually worthy of considering for the position. Chandler doesn't have the brain cells to run for office and Lang would have to spend her time getting people to look at her face!"

"So you don't believe you are attractive?"

"What!?"

Chloe pressed on. "Would you say that your physical self-doubt is the reason for your abrasive personality?"

"I am not-"

"What are your views on the attack on Paul Chan, the previous fore-runner for the race?"

"He got what he deserved for standing in my way!" Sasha's eyes widened in shock as she slammed her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that.

"Are you admitting you caused his attack?"

"This interview is over!" She declared before stomping off.

"Chloe, that was scary. Please don't do that to me." Lana said weakly.

"Don't worry Lana, this is why I am your Press Secretary." Mindee smiled. "Chloe doesn't get to ask you anything on the record without going through me."

"An interesting tactic, Miss Sullivan."

The girls turned to see Emma standing behind them.

"I believe you have successfully ousted the attacker."

Chloe smiled proudly.

"Unfortunately you are now at risk as Miss Woodman might consider you a threat."

Chloe's smile dropped.

"Hey girls, Miss Frost. Lana, congrats on running for Pres!" Pete smiled as he walked up. "For a while there I thought I was gonna have to nominate Clark to replace Paul."

"Clark?" Chloe asked. "Clark doesn't have a clue about what a Student President does."

"Who cares, people love him. He's the star quarterback, town hero and all that. He just has to smile for the cameras." Pete waved a dismissive hand before jogging off to his other friends.

"Clark will be so pleased to hear he wasn't here." Phoebe smirked.

"Did anyone tell Clark about Pete's reaction to Lex and that you wiped his memory?" Chloe asked.

"Oh dear." Emma sighed. "I will alert the others to inform Harry as soon as they arrive."

* * *

"Bruce! Thor! Buddies! How's it hanging?" Harry greeted his two immortal friends gregariously.

"Harry? We weren't expecting a visit from you so soon." Bruce smiled as he walked up and exchanged a manly hug with Harry as Thor greeted Brunhilde.

"Teaching trip." Harry explained. "Meet Clark Kent, he has the potential to be as powerful as The Sentry or any other mortal god. Even you Bruce."

"Impressive." Thor nodded as he examined the youth critically. "What lessons are we to impart?"

"Poker." Harry grinned broadly.

"I'll call the gang." Bruce sighed. After thousands of years as Harry's friend he was used to his eccentricities.

Clark turned to Brunhilde. "Why would we travel to a new reality just to learn how to play poker?"

"Because when played properly you can learn much from your opponents and the discussions that may take place." She smiled. "Also, you will be introduced to more of Harry's friends and family. In the first world you learnt of Harry's ability to traverse time. In the second you saw the limitations of life. In this world you will see the variety of life and how it should be."

* * *

"BEES! BEES! BEES! BEES!" Chloe screamed as she ran from the office of the Torch glancing over her shoulder.

She had stayed late to work on her articles and research when they had started pouring out of the drains. She was lucky to get out the door before they reached her.

"Umph!" She ploughed into a soft yet sturdy body. "Amara? We have to go!"

"Relax child." Amara said softly. "They won't reach you. Just stand right here and don't move or touch the fire." She said as she took a few steps back.

"What fir- oh god!"

A ring of fire instantly surrounded her. What caught her attention was Amara turning into a molten figure. She watched as Amara calmly walked to the Torch office as the door opened for her. She then stepped inside and the room lit up with flames as Chloe watched from within the circle.

As quickly as it began the flames died and a regular looking Amara strolled out of the office as the flames surrounding Chloe also vanished leaving scorch marks on the floor, walls and ceiling.

"I apologise for being late, I needed to use the rest room." Amara said calmly as she waved a hand fixing the damage.

Chloe was flabbergasted. "Are you telling me that I nearly died because you needed to_ pee_?!" She screeched.

Amara just smiled. "You'd be surprised how often bodily functions can interfere with these types of situations. You were never in any real danger though. We placed a charm on your clothes to repel insects."

"Oh… well… that's ok then." She allowed. "Why did they come after me?"

"That should be obvious, Chloe. You didn't endorse the correct candidate for the election. I am curious, why did you decide to endorse Paul Chan over Lana? I'm sure Lana doesn't hold it against you."

Despite not being Editor of the Torch, she was given the decision on whom to endorse as Lana, being a candidate herself, had a conflict of interest.

"Because Lana doesn't actually want the position and Paul has worked a long time for it. Lana has at least a year left of being the Editor of the Torch, she would have to quit the Talon or cheerleading to handle the duties of Student Body President." She explained. "Besides, she plans to withdraw in Paul's favour."

* * *

"Congratulations Clark, you finally won a hand." Bruce smirked.

They had been playing for ages. Clark had lost track of time. At first he had quickly run out of chips and had to fold through nearly every game, but he had been forced to sit there and listen to their stories and banter and answer their questions as they continued to play. Each player knew the other so well that bluffing was impossible; the entire game was played on knowing the cards and playing the odds.

Clark was still having trouble focusing; he had been introduced to the 'gang', which consisted of, much to his surprise, gods. There was Hercules, Thor, Ares, Venus, Aphrodite, Athena and even Odin himself showed up for a game. Clark was shocked when one of the blonde haired women introduced herself as Sif, Harry's daughter.

Clark was used to being surrounded by beautiful women at the castle, but even he was having trouble focusing with two Goddesses of Love and Beauty at the table, especially as they were the pinnacles of feminine perfection.

Eventually Clark had managed to ignore the faces at the table and focus on the cards and who had, or might have, what cards. The odds played in his favour and he won.

"And this is where we call it a day, folks." Harry smiled.

"You won't give the child the chance to win back his losses?" Ares frowned.

"Not today, but we'll be back. I still have one more stop to make with Clark before I get him back to his parents."

"Do not wait too long, Harry." Thor warned with a smile. "We need to hear some of young Clark's adventures."

"Especially those with the girls." Venus smirked as she and Aphrodite shared a smile.

"If he ever needs some training, send him our way." Aphrodite said with a salacious wink.

Clark's face was completely red. Harry decided to take pity on the boy and teleported them out.

* * *

"Felice Chandler is on the warpath." Pete warned as he rushed into the Torch. "She's blaming you for her loss because you didn't endorse her."

"But that was Chloe's choice!" Lana exclaimed.

"Hey, it's your name on the paper." Chloe smirked.

"Watch it Sullivan, I'll have you doing puff pieces for a week and then I'll make you proof every major article Pete writes for the front page." She smirked.

"I'll still get to do the sports and cheerleader beat though, right?" Pete asked worriedly.

"LANG!"

All three occupants winced as Felice Chandler stormed in.

"Indoor voice, Felice." Chloe said patronisingly.

"Shut up Sullivan! I know you were a part of this."

"Miss Chandler, please keep your voice down." Jean scowled as she walked in. The doctor's office was only a few doors down and she was still subbing for Harry.

"Look Felice, what are you going to do? Stand there and screech all day? You can't do anything about it. The decision was mine and I decided that Paul Chan was the best candidate and endorsed him. If you want to complain, go see Principal Frost." Chloe suggested.

"I'll go when-"

"Enough!" Jean snapped. "Miss Sullivan is right, you have no options to take against the Torch directly. If you have a complaint then take it to the Principal's office or write a letter you want published in the Torch. Now, the bell is about to ring so please head to class."

Felice fumed on the spot before she stomped off with her entourage.

"The bell won't go for another half an hour." Pete frowned as he looked at his watch.

Jean just smiled. "Who cares as long as she isn't here making a fuss?"

* * *

Clark looked around at the surroundings and people. There was a very Eastern Asian feel to the place. But also a distinct sense of fear. All the people on the streets looked Asian.

"Is this another place you've been to where everyone is Asian?" Clark asked.

Harry smirked. "Yes, it's called North Korea. This is your home Earth, Clark. I wanted to show you the work I have begun since I got here."

"Isn't it dangerous for us to be here?"

"Clark, would we take you somewhere we couldn't protect you?" Hilde asked.

Clark had to concede that point. Even if there was danger, between Death, the Valkyrie and himself there was little they could handle.

"You stood toe-to-toe with a T-Rex and you're worried about a few humans? You played poker with gods and your scared of a government?" Harry laughed.

"That T-Rex was your fault! You could have told me it was there."

"Yeah, but the look on your face-"

"HOW COULD YOU SEE MY FACE?! I WAS IN ITS MOUTH!" Clark screeched.

"Clark, you're scaring the people." Hilde smirked.

"Come on, we are only going to be here for a few hours before we head back to Smallville." Harry smiled as he headed off.

* * *

"We all know what Chloe wants to be when she graduates, but what does Lana Lang want to be?" Pete asked as they took in the site of the various vocational booths that had been set up in the school.

"I really want to go into fashion design." Lana said firmly. "Or another area of art."

"As long as you remember to invite me to your fashion shows and the before and after parties." Pete waggled his eyebrows.

"What if I decide to focus on men's fashion?" Lana smirked.

Pete's face dropped. "That's cruel Lana." He grinned suddenly. "Congrats, you are well on your way to becoming a first class fashion mogul."

"What does the great Pete Ross want to be?" Came a voice from behind them.

"Clark! You're back!" Chloe cried happily as they all hugged.

"Came back this morning. Couldn't get my parents to let me take the day off though." Clark sighed dramatically.

"How was your trip?" Pete asked.

"Great, saw a lot of…" Clark paused as he saw Lana and Chloe making stop signs behind Pete's back.

"Clark! Our boy-toy is here!" Celeste squealed as she suddenly latched onto him. The others soon joined her.

"Now I realise what made my trip so nice." Clark groaned. "No fans."

"Aw, you don't mean that." Mindee pouted.

"Clark, Principal Frost wants to see you immediately." Phoebe said.

"Oh, well… I'll just be on my way then." Clark shrugged. "Maybe I'm getting a free pass from all of this."

"I want to know what Clark's going to do when he graduates." Pete wondered.

"He wants to go to college, but as far as he is concerned his life will be spent following in his families footsteps as a farmer." Chloe said sadly.

"How do you know?" Pete asked.

"I pay attention Pete."

* * *

Clark spent the rest of the day in something of a daze. He was having trouble dealing with the fact that his teachers had messed around with his oldest friends memories. Everyone assured him that he was still the same Pete Ross, he just wouldn't know about magic or Clark's secret. He especially wouldn't know about Lex's involvement.

He completely missed the Torch's former cartoonist Justin Gaines return, albeit bittersweet considering he had drastically reduced mobility in his hands and could no longer draw.

Chloe seemed thrilled that Justin had asked her out.

But Clark missed all this.

He stood in his barn loft watching the sun set.

"I'm sorry Clark. I wish this had never happened."

Clark didn't bother to turn around as Lex walked up next to him. "You don't control your father and you definitely don't control Pete." He responded without looking.

"No, but it's the same as your irrational belief that you are responsible for the meteor shower. I've always had to live with the stigma of being a Luthor thanks to my father's actions."

"At least you _know_ what your father does. I have no idea why I arrived in a meteor shower." Clark argued quietly.

"I had an idea. I'm working on it." Lex said cryptically.

"Care to share?"

"I checked with your parents about where your ship landed. No one has actually searched Miller's field properly so I am funding an excavation with Harry to see if we can't find any clues."

"Do you think there might be more ships?" Clark asked hopefully.

"Clark, I have no idea what might be there. All I might find is more meteor rocks. So make sure you stay away just in case." Lex warned.

"Gladly."

"So how was your trip with Harry and Hilde?" Lex asked, deliberately changing the subject.

Clark looked at his older friend with a wry smile. "They taught me to play poker."

"Really?" Lex was surprised. "I keep egging them to play a game, we have plenty of players. There are some other young billionaires out there as well, we could even do a charity thi-"

"Lex, Harry had me taught by the gods." Clark said as he looked him in the eye.

"Gods?"

"Thor, Hercules, Aphrodite, Ares, Odin, Venus, the Hulk and a few others. It was not easy concentrating with two goddesses of beauty and love at the table." Clark told him.

"You're joking?" Lex half asked half accused.

"No, I'm deadly serious."

"Whose the Hulk? I've never heard of that god."

"Harry said he's a new god and one of the more powerful ones. He only ascended to true godhood a few centuries after Harry arrived in that universe."

"Are we sure Harry isn't a god?"

"I did ask, but they all said that Harry was as far from a god as they were from mortals. Harry outranks them and… well, they weren't bowing, but they were very respectful in their own way."

"Wow. Poker with the gods. It sounds so… surreal."

"Uh huh, we played on a cloud. I think Harry was pulling a joke though as the others seemed amused."

"Wow." Lex muttered as he looked up at the now purple sky filled with millions of stars. "Did you happen to meet any other famous people?"

"No… but I did get eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex."

"Oh." Lex nodded quietly. "Wait- What?!"

* * *

The following day came with grave news from Emma as she made a special visit before school to the Kents.

"James Kwan is dead. He was found early this morning by his son in the garage crushed by his own car."

"My god! That's awful!" Martha gasped. "Have the students been told?"

"There will be an announcement at an impromptu assembly this morning. Miss Sullivan has not taken the news well."

"Why did you tell her first?" Martha asked.

"I asked her to put out a memorial issue. Miss Lang is there now but I was hoping Clark would be willing to assist them. James was a good man. We intended to promote him next year so I could stand down."

"I'm gone. I'll eat these on the way." Clark said as he picked up a few slices of toast and sped out the door.

"Don't worry, Laura and Scott are already there supervising. They will make sure he eats properly." Emma assured them.

* * *

"Chloe, why are you searching for Principal Kwan's licence plate?" Clark asked as he came across a print out in the fax machine.

"I wasn't, when did it come through?" Chloe asked as she took the offered paper. The memorial edition of the Torch was now printing and students would soon be arriving.

"Yesterday afternoon."

Chloe slammed her hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh god! I was helping Justin find the person who ran him down."

"Principal Kwan hit Justin?" Lana asked as she came over. "That doesn't sound right. He doesn't drink and takes responsibility seriously."

"We need to show this to Principal Frost." Clark frowned.

"You really think Justin would do something like this?" Chloe demanded heatedly.

Clark was taken aback. "It's evidence, a lead. We can't just sit on it; if he's innocent then handing this over won't mean anything. If he is guilty then we are accomplices."

"I'll take it to Principal Frost." Lana said as she took the paper from Chloe's weak hands. "Clark's right, we can't make a judgement just based on this. I'm sure Principal Frost will ensure Justin is well represented legally."

* * *

"Come in."

Justin Gaines entered the Principal's Office to see Principal Frost and Doctor Potter waiting for him. Doctor Potter was standing behind the Principal leaning against the windowsill.

"Take a seat Mr. Gaines." Frost instructed. "We won't beat around the bush Mr. Gaines, were you involved in Principal Kwan's death last night?"

Justin kept his face emotionless. "No, I thought it was an accident?"

"We believe you found out that Principal Kwan's car was involved in your accident and you sought revenge."

"I don't have to sit here and listen to this! You don't have any proof." Justin said angrily.

"We have this." Frost said as she handed over the DMV print out of James Kwan's licence and registration. "Miss Sullivan has confirmed that she aided you in searching for a vehicle with a partial plate of 'DDI'. You were present when this arrived even though Miss Sullivan missed it."

"Her word against mine." He argued.

"That is for the courts to decide. For now you will need to go with the police and answer their questions." Frost said as she picked up her phone.

Justin sat there angrily. He knew he could kill them and escape, but he also knew he would spend the rest of his life on the run. No, he would bide his time and let the law play out. They had nothing on him and he had the perfect alibi, he couldn't use his hands so they couldn't pin the murder on him.

Chloe, however, was another matter. She had betrayed him.

* * *

Harry walked into the Luthor Mansion that afternoon soon after getting a request from Lex to meet. The young man had sounded rather urgent. Harry entered Lex's study to find the man himself and an older woman sitting across from him in front of the fireplace.

"Harry, I'd like you to meet Pamela Jenkins. She was my nanny." Lex said with a solemn expression.

"Miss Jenkins." Harry greeted as he shook her hand.

Harry sat down and gave her a frank look. "So, you are dying of cancer. Lex wanted me to check if that was true (which it is, Lex) and see if I can do anything about it."

Pamela looked shocked and horrified, she had been in the room when Lex had called the Doctor and he had only asked him to come over and meet someone. He hadn't even mentioned her gender.

Lex was sitting with his face I his hands. It was a long process, but he was still trying to come to grips with Harry's eccentricities. He should have gone with his first instinct and called Jean.

"No Harry. I believed her when she said she was ill, I just wanted to see if you could help at all." Lex sighed. "Pamela, I apologise. I should have warned you about Doctor Potter, he can be little… unusual."

Pamela looked at Lex for a second before turning to Harry. "How did you know I was ill, Doctor?"

"Call it a talent. I've been doing this a long time after all."

Pamela frowned; he didn't look more than twenty-five.

"Tell me about yourself and your relationship to the Luthors, Miss Jenkins." Harry instructed calmly.

Pamela again looked to Lex.

"He's just looking out for me, Pamela. In a genuine way, unlike my father." Lex said with mild disgust.

"He's been around again?" Harry asked.

"Yes, you should really pay attention to these things! The business world is cutthroat, you need to stay on top of potential adversaries." Lex admonished.

"If I thought they were a threat then I would. But he's not, he's a pest who doesn't really know I exist." Harry said dismissively.

"Doctor, I worked for Lionel Luthor for many years. I knew him very well." Pamela said warningly. "If you have the potential to be a threat or challenge then he knows about you and is watching and waiting to see what you will do. He probably has a whole team keeping track of you and your family."

Harry looked at Pamela and frowned. "Just how 'well' did you know him?"

"I cared for his son for most of his childhood." She explained.

Harry shook his head. "No, you knew Lionel far better than just being a nanny to his son."

"Of course I didn't!"

"You definitely did." Harry nodded as he looked to Lex.

"Pamela, I don't care if you had an affair with my father. My mother was far too sick to cope with any relationships after Julian… after." Lex finished, his throat clenching. "Just answer Harry's questions, he'll only do what is right. Excuse me." Lex stood and walked away, leaving Pamela and Harry alone in the study.

"I shoul-"

"Stay." Harry commanded quietly. "Lex has help if he needs it, and he rarely does. He is quite strong. Now, you have secrets, those might be detrimental to Lex and he is my friend. If you wish you can tell me your secrets in confidence and I will hold them under doctor/patient confidentiality. I will only advise you strongly regarding the secrets and leave the final decisions regarding Lex to you."

"I need to think about it." Pamela said quietly.

"Understandable. I will inform Lex. But don't take too long, your cancer is progressing quickly, I estimate you have a few weeks tops using the best medicine available, even less if you don't."

* * *

"I'm tellin' ya Lex, she might have shum good reashons for not telling." Jonathan slurred as he wobbled precariously on the stool. "Your Pa… he do shum real nashty thingshs."

"I know, but she could tell Harry, then Harry could make her better." Lex moaned into his glass. "Issh empty." He hiccupped.

"Is dad drunk?" Clark asked, he was horrified at what he was seeing. He had just returned from training with Brunhilde and Laura and found his mother and the others watching with amusement as the two men drank themselves into a stupor.

"Yes, Lex started earlier but refused to stop when Jonathan tried to reason with him. Your father, being his usual helpful self, refused to let him drink alone."

"But… why? And… aren't you worried about him attacking Lex?"

"It's not the first time he's done this, Clark." Martha said with a proud smile. "He did the same thing with Gabe Sullivan when he found the man at the local bar. You do remember Chloe's sleepover soon after she moved to Smallville?"

"Because Mr. Sullivan was drunk? I don't remember dad being drunk though."

"Of course not! He put Gabe to bed and went straight back to work. He's a Kent and they know better than to bring that sort of trouble home, he just ignored the pain of the hangover."

"Ok… why are they drinking enough to kill themselves?"

"You'll have to ask Lex, it's personal." Amara said sadly. "We don't know much beyond what we've heard them talking about, but Lex is fairly distraught."

"Shouldn't we stop them?"

"No, they need to do this, burn off some steam." Dani said seriously. "We'll give them a hangover cure in the morning, neither are alcoholics so we don't have to worry about recurrences."

"Issh not about wha Linnel did, it's about wha she migh' 'ah done." Jonathan said loudly. "Your fasher, he blackmails people… blackmailed me! Bashard!"

"Big bashard!" Lex agreed as he raised his glass to Jonathan.

* * *

Whilst this was going on, Lana and Chloe were heading to the castle in Chloe's car. The conversation was about their common interest.

"You've broken up with Whitney, he's left the town, it's been several weeks, when are you going to ask Clark out?" Chloe demanded.

"Me? Why-"

"Please tell me you aren't going to deny you like him." Chloe sighed. "The whole school knows you like him, there is a pool on when the star quarter-back and the head cheerleader are going to get together."

"There isn't!" Lana was horrified.

"I placed my bet." Chloe smirked.

"Do the teachers know about this?"

"Oh, I'd say they know." She chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Lana asked suspiciously.

"Well… you didn't hear it from me, but a certain all-powerful, near god-like doctor might be the one running it."

"That bastard!"

"Language Miss Lang!" Chloe laughed.

"He is so going to pay for this." Lana scowled. "Besides, isn't Clark supposed to ask _me_ out?"

"Lana, we are women of the new millennium. We are strong and independent, we don't follow; we lead!" Chloe said passionately with a hint of mirth. "Besides, we both know that if you leave it to Clark it will be years before he asks. He is still hung up on his fears of being rejected as an alien."

"You're right." Lana sighed. "Is that Justin?" She asked suddenly.

Standing in the middle of the road ahead of them was Justin Gaines, he did not look happy.

"Do you think we should stop?" Chloe asked worriedly.

"Are you insane? We are only a mile from the castle; if he wants to talk to us he can pick up a phone or do it at school. With witnesses!"

Chloe nodded and she increased her speed and manoeuvred the car to the other side of the road to pass him.

There was a loud crack.

"What was that?" Lana asked worriedly.

"I don't know, but we are slowing down. I didn't see anything on the road."

Lana leaned round to look out the back window. "He's walking towards us."

Chloe looked at Lana. "Run?"

"Run!"

Both girls abandoned everything and jumped from the car and started running down the road.

Justin was surprised. He hadn't expected them to actually try and escape, or even realise they needed to. He started to run after them.

Earl Jenkins was checking the fences along the path to the castle. It was the last thing he needed to do before dinner. He was a little bewildered when he noticed Lana Lang and Chloe Sullivan pelting towards him as though the devil himself was on their tails.

He knew they were in on the secret of magic and Harry so he decided to approach them.

"Girls, what's wrong?" He asked as he hopped the fence.

"We think Justin Gaines might be after us." Lana wheezed as they both bent at the waist to catch their breath.

"The kid who might have killed Kwan?" Emma had warned all the workers about what had happened just in case she and Harry were targeted for revenge. "I see him. Why don't you two go and get Harry, I'll see what he wants."

Neither girl had a problem with that. They weren't worried about Earl's safety; the man was like a mountain to an anthill when compared with Justin.

They quickly set off again, although at a slower and much more laboured pace.

Earl stepped into the path of Justin about ten feet ahead of him. "Mr. Gaines, do you have an appointment at the castle?"

"I don't need an appointment, now get out of the way old man." Justin snarled as he waved a hand that sent Earl flying.

Earl shook his head as he picked himself off the floor. The boy had sent him ten feet and hadn't even touched him. He would have sworn he had used magic but he knew Harry would have noticed any other natural magic users in town. Especially as Harry had met the boy today in person.

But whatever the case, Justin Gaines was clearly a threat to the castle and it's residents. That included his wife and daughter and he wasn't going to let the kid anywhere near them.

He teleported in front of Justin causing him to jump back in shock. "I can't let you go any further boy." He warned calmly.

"You have powers too?!"

"I do, and if I have to I will use them to put you down. Principal Frost and Doctor Potter were trying figure out how you could have killed Principal Kwan. I think we just found out the answer."

"You won't live long enough to tell." Justin smirked as he raised his hand only for him to go flying through the air as Clark materialised between them with a gust of wind.

"Clark? Where's Harry?" Earl asked.

"Right here. Carry on Clark." Harry instructed. "Thanks for stopping him Earl."

"My family is in there too, wasn't going to let him near them." Earl said as he watched Clark approach the slowly rising Justin. "Is this another lesson for Clark?"

"If I handle every little problem in the world then the world would never learn to stand up for itself. Clark has the heart and soul of a hero, I'm just giving him the chance to shine."

"Justin, calm down." Clark spoke soothingly. "You don't need to do this. Just go with Doctor Potter and he will sort this out."

"Thanks for coming out Clark. It saves me from having to find you. I know it was you who told Chloe and Lana to rat me out. So you are on my list too!" Justin flung a hand at Clark causing his telekinesis to lash out at him. But Clark just shielded his eyes and planted his feet.

Justin was surprised so he tried again, but the same thing happened.

"He made his choice Clark. Finish it." Harry instructed.

Clark did not want to attack his fellow student; he had hoped that he could reason with him. But Justin was consumed by rage and the desire for revenge. He darted behind Justin and tapped the back of his head. Justin fell to the ground in a heap.

"Clark, when a man threatens your family and friends, you end the threat first, then you reason with him." Earl frowned.

"I didn't want to hurt him." Clark explained.

"That boy clearly wanted to hurt us and you though. He was trying to kill Miss Lang and Miss Sullivan and he threw me ten feet. You were also the one to hand over the evidence that he might have killed Principal Kwan according to Miss Frost. All of that should have told you about his intentions."

Clark looked to Harry for back up.

Harry just scoffed. "I agree with him. The little bastard is a double murderer according to the Trips. I would just as soon as kill the git."

By now Clark was used to Harry's very casual approach to killing people. It helped that all the other castle residents assured him that he had never killed someone who wasn't guilty. Although Brunhilde had later taken Clark aside and explained that even Harry couldn't prevent all innocent deaths in times of war.

"You are going to just lock him up in the dungeon though, right?" Clark asked.

"Depends on the psych eval I get back from Emma and Jean. I really don't like his soul though. Very dirty." Harry admitted with a wrinkled nose.


	13. Chapter 13

Despite the report from Emma and Jean that Justin was now nothing more than a killer looking to take out the next person who looked at him funny, the group of dimensional travellers decide to cater to Clark and Jonathan's pleas not to simply kill him.

As a result Harry was fairly grumpy. He was still unhappy about having Coach Arnold alive. The man was a child abuser, the only reason he allowed Jonathan to sway him was because he wasn't a sexual predator.

The next few days calmed down considerably, Justin was declared missing and Emma began searching for a new assistant principal.

Lana decided to follow Chloe's advice. She arrived at the Kent home with two horses.

"Hi Lana, what brings you here?" Dani asked as she opened the door and instantly moved to the horses.

Lana began to blush, she hadn't thought about how she would react to any one but Clark being home. "I… is Clark home?"

Dani spun around to face her with a huge grin on her face. "I'll go get him!" She said before vanishing on the spot.

Lana jumped as she heard shouting from in the house.

"DANI! GET OUT!"

That was Clark.

"THERE IS A LOCK ON THE DOOR!"

"DANI, LEAVE CLARK ALONE!"

That was Amara.

"LANA'S HERE TO SEE HIM! I THINK IT'S FOR A DATE!" Dani yelled.

Lana cringed; she didn't want that announced to the whole house.

"GIRL'S! STOP SHOUTING!"

God bless Martha Kent.

The front door opened to reveal Martha standing there with a smile. "Tie those two up Lana and come on in." She instructed.

"Clark will be a few minutes, he needed a shower. There was an incident with a witch and some manure."

"Dani?" Lana asked with a smile, everyone knew the American Indian witch had a tendency to play jokes and mess around.

"Actually it was Amara."

"It was not my fault!" The blonde haired roman princess protested as she walked down the stairs drying her own hair.

"Clark's jacket says otherwise." Dani grinned as she held up Clark's familiar red jacket, it was badly burnt.

"What did you do?" Lana asked curiously.

Amara sighed and blushed. "I was taking Clark a hot drink, I was heating it as I went." She set her finger on fire to demonstrate. "There was a lot of manure out there. And a lot of methane as a result."

"You blew up the stalls?!" Lana asked, horrified.

"No, just Clark." Dani smirked. "Although she did get covered in crap when Clark landed in it. It went everywhere."

"Why didn't you just use magic to clean yourself?" Lana asked.

"Nothing beats a good water shower." Amara said firmly. "We have experienced magic cleaning, baths, sonic showers and various other technologies, but at the end of the day, water is the best." She sighed wistfully.

"And this is coming from someone who turns into a lava creature." Dani smirked. "OW!" Dani rubbed her butt where Amara had singed her.

"You had better repair that hole… and Clark's jacket." Dani warned.

"Hi Lana." Clark said bashfully as he came down the stairs, his hair still wet.

"Hi Clark." Lana smiled… she then froze as she realised she hadn't planned to do this with an audience.

Martha just smiled. "Come on ladies, someone has to clean up the mess in the stalls." She said as she led them out the door.

This left the two teenagers alone in the kitchen.

"So… "

"Yes, I came here to ask you if you wanted to go out." Lana sighed. "I wasn't going to use the word 'date' but I guess it doesn't matter now."

"And you told Dani that?"

"No! She assumed."

They stood there for a moment in an uncomfortable silence.

"Aren't I supposed to ask _you_ out?" Clark questioned hesitantly.

He was a little taken aback by the glare Lana sent him.

"Do you _want_ to ask me out?"

"Well… yes-"

"When did you plan to ask me out?" Lana demanded.

Clark's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"That's why Chloe suggested I make the first move."

"Chloe!?"

"Yes, Chloe."

"Hey Clark, you up for some motor-" Pete froze in the front door as he saw the awkwardness that was Clark and Lana. "Right, I'll come back another day." He said as he backed out the door.

"There goes any chance of keeping this private." Jonathan muttered as he walked down the stairs to the kettle.

"Dad! How long were you listening?" Clark asked.

"Since Lana asked if you wanted to ask her out." Jonathan smiled slyly. "I would have waited but I really need a drink." He said as he began ushering them out the door. "Have fun, we can handle your chores for the day."

They stood there staring at the door as he slammed it shut behind them.

"Maybe we should leave." Lana offered as she looked around nervously.

"Quickly!" Clark agreed.

* * *

Whilst Clark and Lana were racing off for their first date, Harry joined Lex and Pamela Jenkins at the mansion.

"You decided to share your secret then?" Harry asked knowingly.

Pamela nodded shakily. She was quite pale, and not just because of the cancer tearing her apart. "I have many secrets, or rather, I know many secrets. Too many too actually recite but there is a personal secret that has haunted me for years. It is the reason I was sent away."

Pamela turned to Lex. "I was not as faithful to you and your mother as I should have been. I had an affair with your father a year so after you were born."

"That doesn't surprise me." Lex sighed. "I believe in his own way he loved my mother, but in the end he is still Lionel Luther at heart."

"That wasn't the worst part, I conceived a daughter, I gave birth to that daughter. You have a sister Lex."

Lex's head shot up at that. "Then where is she?"

"Your father took her away when she was a few years old. It was cruel, he didn't do it when she was a baby, he separated myself and my only child and he just abandoned her." Pamela cried as tears fell. "He didn't even tell me he was doing it! He cared for that girl like a daughter and he still managed to just throw her away like that!"

"Didn't you try and find her?" Lex demanded.

"Lex, I was a prisoner in your home. Your father sent me away; I didn't leave of my own free will. He never told me anything about what he did, I searched as hard as I could but… I wasn't able to get back in the country until now. He threatened to kill me."

"Lionel Luther goes that far?" Harry asked.

"Not overtly." Lex answered. "But my guess is he has a lot of contacts with contacts with contacts and so on that help keep his hands 'clean'."

"I will get together with a friend and see if he can track down your wayward sibling." Harry said. "He's an excellent tracker, better than me even and he taught Laura a lot of what she knows. Put them together with Dani and I reckon it will take about a week."

Harry stood and straightened his shirt. "Well, I'll leave you two to talk. Lex, call me if you need anymore help."

"Harry, the cancer?" Lex asked. Pamela sent a pleading look to Harry.

Harry just smirked. "What cancer?" He walked towards the door calling over his shoulder. "You are free to give her the full rundown Lex, bring her to the castle if you want."

"But I told him the truth!" Pamela wailed.

"Yes, and Harry has- look, the only way to do this is to take you to the hospital for a full workup. I'll see if Jean can meet us." Lex sighed. He also needed to have someone around to help him in case she fainted.

* * *

Clark and Lana couldn't help but smile and laugh as they raced through the fields together on their mounts. It was a beautiful day and the company was even better. Eventually they slowed to a trot as they approached a fence and the edge of the current field.

"It's good to get them running, Whitney's horse doesn't get much exercise these days, although I do try." Lana said with a sad smile as she dismounted, Clark following suit.

"Have you heard from Whitney?" Clark asked, he may not have liked him but he couldn't feel ill for anyone.

"No, but Mr. Fordman asked if I wanted to buy this handsome fella." She said as she patted the horse's flank. "I just can't afford him."

"Talk to Dani, she would probably love a horse and would use it to ride the around the farm." Clark suggested.

"The American Indian Cowgirl." Lana smirked.

"And she would inform you that her people were doing it long before the settlers arrived in America." Clark said. "Then she would teleport you into the nearest pile of manure." He added with a grimace.

"She doesn't like cowboys?" Lana asked with a laugh.

"Sure she does. She dresses half Indian half cowboy. She just feels that she is the only one allowed to make references about it when it comes to her.

"Although she and Dad have started a prank war. He keeps changing her clothes to cowboy clothes and he keeps coming home in war paint and feathered head dresses." Clark smiled.

"It definitely seems like life is fun on the farm." Lana mused as they tied up their horses and began removing the picnic from her saddlebags.

"And weird. Very weird. One day you come home and do your chores and help your dad bale the hay, the next there's an Native American and a Roman Princess doing it with magic."

"Is that how you first found out about magic?"

"No, I first found out when I jammed my arm in the wood chipper to make a point and Mr. Summers saw me do it. He called in Harry and the rest… is history."

"You jammed your arm in a wood chipper?" Lana asked with narrowed eyes.

"I was upset and was trying to prove a point about me being different to my dad."

"What could possibly drive you to do that?" Lana asked in disbelief.

"I wanted to join the football team." Clark said with red face. At Lana's raised eyebrow he continued. "Because of all my abilities I haven't ever been able to do what others call 'normal', football was something my dad always talked about and I wanted to be able to experience it as well."

Lana just looked at him. "You have a lot of issues Clark."

Clark smiled at her sadly, with a hint of worry. "Does that mean you regret asking me out?"

"No, the triplets and Chloe warned me that you would be a lot of work. Someone has to try and sort you out and they voted for me." She smirked.

Clark shuddered at the thought of Lana and Chloe discussing him with the Cuckoos. Nothing good could come of it. No matter how beautiful Lana was.

"So… how were you introduced to magic?" Clark asked a little too quickly.

Lana laughed softly at Clark's obvious attempt to change the subject, but allowed him the out. "The Triplets held me captive whilst they showed me what they can do. I was more scared than when Greg Arkin kidnapped me or my horse bucked me off."

"Really? They can be… aggressive, but I didn't think they would try and scare you." Clark frowned.

"They weren't happy with me from the beginning." Lana admitted. "First I had quit the cheerleading squad and they thought I was crazy for doing so. What they considered an even bigger crime was dating Whitney instead of you." She smiled.

"They _told_ you that?" Clark asked curiously.

"Quite openly as well."

"Then why are they always hanging all over me?" He demanded.

Lana just laughed. "They think you are hot!"

Clark couldn't help but feel a little pleased about hearing that, despite his blush. The Cuckoos had always said he was a 'hottie' but hearing that they had said it to someone else made it more believable.

"So they don't want to date me?" Clark asked with a curious frown.

"They do, but they claim we all live for thousands of years and will learn to share." Lana replied with a frown of her own.

"They aren't lying." Clark told her, then he saw her head snap to him. "About the living long!" He amended hastily. "Harry took me to meet real live gods from the last universe he was in. The one the others like the Cuckoos are from. He even introduced me to his children."

"Is that how you found out about him being Death?" Lana asked with a bit of a shudder. Doctor Potter was a nice person, but it was very unsettling to find out he was the personification of Death.

"No, he told us that when we first met. Cassandra was the first time he actively proved it. She died of old age right in front of Lex, Harry built her a new body and transferred her soul into it."

Lana shivered as she remembered the warnings that Cassandra had given her when she shook her hand. She still had trouble believing that she was capable of the things Cassandra warned her about.

Clark didn't notice this though. "How did they tell you about Harry being Death?" He asked with a smile.

Lana relaxed, grateful for the slight return to the original subject. "Harry took Chloe and me back to the time of dinosaurs, we got to see baby triceratops!" She smiled brightly.

"You're lucky, he took me back in time and the first thing I got to see was the inside of a Tyrannosaurus Rex's mouth." Clark grumbled. "It did not smell nice."

"You got eaten by a T-Rex?" Lana laughed.

"Yes, and Harry just stood there and laughed. Hilde too."

"But it couldn't hurt you right? You have unbreakable skin." She said as she poked him in the arm. She was a little surprised that it felt like regular flesh, not the cold hard steel she had expected. She started squeezing his arm and rubbing it, trying to figure it out.

Clark sat there frozen as the girl of his dreams… played with him.

Lana looked up at Clark and realised what she was doing and withdrew her hand quickly as though it was burnt.

Both were blushing heavily.

Lana cleared her throat nervously. "So… what happened to the T-Rex, how did you escape?"

Clark released a long breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. "Oh, I crawled out after it broke most of its teeth on me and it was all gums."

Lana couldn't help but laugh at that.

"I really stank though and no amount of magic helped, I didn't feel better till Harry took me to waterfall and gave me some soap and new clothes." Clark shuddered.

"You really got eaten by a T-Rex?" She asked, still laughing.

"Have a look at the mantle over the fireplace in the castle. Harry mounted one of the broken teeth up there." Clark said with a straight face and a hint of wryness.

"You have to be-"

Lana was interrupted by the sound of an explosion nearby.

"I should go and see what that was." Clark frowned. They were still on Kent property so he felt responsible for anything that happened.

"I'll secure the horses." Lana assured him.

It didn't take long for Lana to have both horses firmly secured to the fence before she hopped over and followed the direction Clark had gone. What she found were public works men and members of the sheriff's department working on an exploded gas line. They seemed to be struggling, but what caught her attention was the crumpled form of Clark Kent not far from a pipe outlet that was vibrating wildly. She quickly rushed over to Clark and realised he was still trying to get to the men.

"Clark, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"Feels like meteorites." Clark wheezed painfully. "Need to tell the men about the pipe."

"First I need to get you away from here or you'll die." She said firmly.

"No! Tell the men- "

"Shut up Clark and work with me." Lana snapped as she tried to help him to his feet.

She saw a rock at Clark's feet, it seemed like a normal rock, no hint of green crystals, but it suited her purposes. She grabbed it and threw it at the group of men.

Regrettably she hit one of the deputies on the head, but she got their attention. "THIS PIPE IS GOING TO BLOW!" She screamed before returning all her efforts to moving Clark.

She could hear the men shouting behind her as they worked faster and harder. But she knew it wouldn't be long before the pipe burst.

There was a loud bang and Lana pushed Clark away from her as hard as she could before the explosion picked them both up and tossed them away.

That was the last thing Lana knew as she saw various faces looming over her and she passed out.

* * *

"She should be fine, Miss Potter. She just has a concussion so I want her in over night." The doctor explained to Nell as they stood outside Lana's hospital room.

"As long as she gets better." Nell said worriedly. "Is Clark ok?"

"As far as we know he should be fine, you'll need to consult with Doctor Potter and Clark's parents about that." The doctor smiled reassuringly.

Nell nodded and entered Lana's room closing the door behind her. Lana had been unconscious since they brought her in with Clark Kent, she knew she had intended to go riding with the boy and she suspected she was about to make her move on him. She didn't mind too much, especially as they were all friends with the castle residents and Lex Luthor. Nell was very much the social climber.

Lana was her daughter in every way that mattered. She kept the relationship to that of an aunt and niece out of respect for her late sister and brother-in-law, but she loved Lana like she was her own. She settled into the chair to wait for Lana to wake up.

* * *

"Clark, you're awake? I thought you would be unconscious like Lana." Chloe remarked in surprise as she entered Clark's room.

"Our boy has a hard head." Pete teased. "He's been awake since I got here."

"Thanks Pete." Clark said sarcastically. "How is Lana?"

"Still hasn't woken up. Nell is here though. Who's your doctor?" She asked, she hadn't seen Harry on her way in.

"Harry, but he wanted to check up on some other patients so he'll be around later." Clark shifted uncomfortable in the bed. "These gowns are very uncomfortable… and revealing." He scowled.

"Yeah, isn't this like the first time you've ever been a patient in hospital?" Pete said in realisation.

"Hopefully my last too."

"This has to be a cause for celebration!" Pete said eagerly.

"Pete Ross, you are not throwing a party in a hospital room." Scott said firmly as he entered the room.

Pete just pouted. "Not now I'm not, yeah." He grumbled.

"Clark, you feeling alright?"

"Yes, Coach, I feel… I have a bit of a headache and some sore ribs. But I'll be fine… soon." Clark had to remember he was supposed to be injured so he repeated what Harry said he should be feeling.

"Glad to hear it. I'd hate to have to put Pete in to replace you." He warned with a slight smirk at Pete.

"I really don't think I have the arm for that, Coach." Pete said warily.

"Which is why I don't want to put you in for Clark. Now why don't you go and put some practice in. You only have one game to play before you move and if you want to make the team in your new school you need to put on a good showing."

"You got it Coach." Pete grinned. "Clark, catch ya later, Chloe, see ya when you get back." He said as he headed out.

Scott waved a hand at the door. "We can talk a bit more freely now." He explained. "I assume there is nothing wrong with you?"

"Other than feeling overly exposed, no." Clark grimaced as Chloe giggled behind her hand. "Did you check on Lana?"

"No, Laura is handling that. But she says she should wake up soon. She is applying a little bit of healing to speed things along."

"Can't you just heal her and have her fake symptoms like you did for Clark?" Chloe asked, having caught on to the plan.

"They took a scan of her head when she came in and there was some swelling, we can't take that out without raising a few eyebrows. All we can do is make sure there are no complications and ease the swelling quicker." Scott explained.

"What time do you have to leave for your conference, Chloe?" Clark asked.

"Now, but I'm not sure I should go, maybe I should wait for Lan-"

"I am sure she will appreciate the sentiment but I know she will want you to attend this conference. You've been going on about it for several weeks." Chloe looked at Scott quizzically. "You've been talking about it non-stop in the hallways." Scott smirked.

Chloe just blushed.

"Coach Summers is correct, Miss Sullivan." Emma concurred as she entered. "You are making good progress to being reappointed as Editor of the school paper, but attending this conference will be a fine feather in your cap. We will pass your best wishes on to Miss Lang, now, go." She said firmly.

The problem with Emma Frost was that it was hard to say no to her. Even Harry had a hard time.

"I guess I'll see you when you get back." She shrugged as she collected her bag and left after giving Clark a hug.

"You do love to throw your weight around, don't you." Scott laughed as the door closed.

"If you've got it, flaunt it." Emma shrugged. "I spoke with Harry, Lana has a fairly heavy dose of meteor radiation in her head. He wants her healed up and at the castle overnight."

Scott just groaned. "Ok Clark, get dressed. You are about to see how much trouble it is to do something like healing someone quickly and convincing the doctors to let you leave."

"You forget, we also need to convince Miss Potter to let her niece stay with us." Emma turned to Clark with a stern expression. "Clark, what you are about to see us do is considered highly unethical. We are going to be modifying memories and using our magic and abilities to make people do things we need them to do."

Clark was a little startled by this. Forget the fact that they were about to engage in mind control; Emma Frost had used his first name. It wasn't as uncommon these days for her to do so, but it was unusual.

She waved a hand and Clark was dressed. "Follow me." She instructed.

"Isn't there a way to do it without modifying memories?" Clark asked as he quickly got out of bed.

"Modifying memories is always the last resort. We will do what we can and then decide if we can afford to leave people's memories alone. Modifying memories is usually done only in the best interests of the person whose memories will be modified. We may be able to get away with claiming that Lana's scans were faulty, but it will be much harder to convince Nell Potter to let Lana stay with us."

"Couldn't one of you stay with Lana at her place? You could be invisible and only Lana would need to know." Clark asked.

Emma stopped and spun around with an intense look on her face. "Very good, Mr. Kent. Very good indeed. Scott, take Clark and have him explain his plan to Harry. I will handle Miss Lang."

* * *

"It's just a regular sleep over Lana." Phoebe smiled as she settled into the conjured bed next to Lana's. "Just relax and sleep. I will be here if anything happens."

"It's just strange to only have one of you around at a time." Lana sighed.

"Technically we are all here, just in the one body."

"That doesn't really help." Lana muttered as she settled down for the night. "Are you sure you don't know what the meteor rocks did to me?"

"Harry said that some were embedded in your skin and that your pores had the energy in them. He cleaned as much of the rock out as he could but he still hasn't gotten a grip on the energy. If worst comes to worst then he will build you a fresh body and transfer you across."

"I really don't want to try that." Lana groaned.

"Considering who your friends are, I'd start getting used to it." Phoebe laughed.

* * *

Chloe was positively terrified. She had been knocked out and abducted and now she was bound and blindfolded somewhere. She couldn't move to get rid of her blindfold and she had been trying.

"Couldn't have a normal day, could you?"

At that moment she fell in love with Lorna Dane.

A few seconds later and the blindfold was off and she could see Lorna and Harry standing there.

"I don't know when he might come back." She said frantically.

"Like we really care." Lorna said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "He comes back and we deal with him. But as we have the opportunity we will simply see if he is in our jurisdiction or if the Sheriff's office can handle it."

"How did you find me?" Chloe asked as she rubbed her freed wrists.

"Lana's accident today gave her some visions. She alerted us and we teleported to you. We don't actually know where we are." Harry shrugged.

"Do you have a phone?" Chloe asked.

Lorna pulled her phone out of her back pocket and Chloe started fiddling around before she handed it back to her.

"Of course, they have GPS back here." She said annoyed with herself.

"You didn't have it in your world?"

"When you can teleport everywhere maps aren't really needed for navigation, just geographical documentation." Harry explained. "Now, please excuse this intrusion but I doubt you want to play hostage for the night." He said.

Chloe watched in fascination as Harry morphed into her. "What are you doing?"

"Pretending to be you so that we can determine who your kidnapper is and whether we should deal with him ourselves or hand him over to the Sheriff."

"How are you going to explain escaping him?"

"I am going to kick his arse and then lie my own arse off." Harry grinned with Chloe's face. "By the time we are done, you will be a superhero and no one will ever dare mess with you again. Now, see you later!"

Chloe didn't get a chance to answer as Lorna teleported them out.

When they reappeared she found herself at the castle in the sitting room.

"Wait, don't I need to see what Harry does? How will I know what to tell the Sheriff?" She asked.

"Harry will show you the memories when he is done. For now you have an appointment with Laura."

"I do? It's 2am!"

"And hopefully in a few hours you will be sitting in the Sheriff's office telling them how you escaped. You need to be suitably dishevelled and exhausted."

"Couldn't we just use makeup?" She whined.

"No, now get moving."

* * *

"EW! EW! EW! EW!"

Phoebe sat up quickly as Lana's disgusted cries woke her. "What? What is- ewwwwww!"

"Get this stuff out of me!"

Phoebe grabbed her and teleported them straight to Jean, who was unfortunately buck naked in bed with Emma and Scott… who were also buck-naked.

"Oh god this day cannot get any worse!" Lana cried in desperation.

"Miss Lang, do get a hold of yourself." Emma said tiredly as she sat up, not bothering to cover herself.

Scott just rolled over. "I'm leaving this one to you two." He grunted.

"Infirmary now!" Phoebe told the women sternly.

Another jump and the four females were in the infirmary.

"Ok, what's the problem?" Jean asked as she conjured some clothes for herself.

Emma didn't bother.

"Lana's visions are from a man." Phoebe scowled. "She just had another one… of a fairly… intimate nature."

"Urination?" Emma asked curiously.

Lana and Phoebe shook their heads.

"Defecation?" Jean frowned.

Again they shook their heads.

Both women frowned as the girls shuddered.

Then it hit them, the one '-ation' left that was fairly intimate.

"By the Fury!" Jean scowled. "Lie down Lana and I'll get rid of those memories."

"Please, get rid of the link as well! I don't want to see that again!" Lana pleaded.

* * *

For Chloe it was the worst news possible. Her kidnapper was actually Deputy Watts who kidnapped her and he wasn't a meteor infected.

Now she was stuck in an interrogation room with Sheriff Miller.

"You can't seriously expect me to believe that someone of your size and stature took down a trained officer of the law, or that Watts would even do something like this." Miller scoffed.

"Where do you think I got these?" Chloe snapped tiredly as she held her wrists to show the marks from where she was bound.

"Maybe you got into a little kinky business with your boyfriend! I don't know what you kids get up to today!"

"That's it, I want a lawyer!" Chloe shouted angrily.

"You're not under arrest." Miller frowned.

"I want one to sue you!"

"There's no need for that, Miss Sullivan." Miller said soothingly.

"You doubt my story without investigating and you accuse me of sexual deviancy, let's not even get started on the fact that you haven't called my dad or an ambulance for me, I am a minor you know."

Miller stood up and looked at her apologetically. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'll go and call your father now."

"No, you should go and question Watts before he can think of a good story." Chloe snarled. "You should let _me _call my dad."

"That won't be necessary Chloe." Amara declared as she strode in. "I called your father already and my friends are picking him up as we speak. Sheriff Miller, are you in the habit of discussing the sexual proclivities of underage teenage girls who just suffered a traumatic experience?" She asked icily.

"Ma'am, what I am in the habit of is making sure I have all the facts." Miller said as he drew himself up. He knew he had crossed the line earlier, but he also knew not to admit anything to a lawyer.

"Then why haven't you questioned Deputy Watts like my client suggested? When Chloe Sullivan called my friend and explained the situation, she was trapped at the carnival grounds, correct?"

Miller just stared stone-faced.

"I do hope you haven't compromised the crime scene. It would be a shame to have you ousted from office due to incompetence."

"Now see here-"

"No! You see here! You will make sure that every 'I' is dotted and every 'T' crossed or so help me I will not only sue the Sheriff's office but I will take every penny you have and then have you put in prison!" Amara hissed angrily.

Chloe shifted uncomfortably. She was sure it had gotten hotter in here.

"Just like I do with every case." Sheriff Miller sneered before he stormed out.

Sheriff Miller was very familiar with Chloe Sullivan. She was the bane of his existence; always turning up at his office looking for quotes and scoops. He really couldn't discount the fact that she had set this up herself to get a big story. He knew she could be reckless and after some of the things he had seen in this town like the scarecrow fiasco, he knew the kids were downright dangerous.

But he knew the girl was right and he had screwed up. He'd let her talk to her father and lawyer whilst he questioned Watts, but then he'd investigate everything about her to make sure she wasn't trying to set Watts up.

"You do realise that a lot of his animosity towards you is deserved?" Amara said pointedly to Chloe after she had calmed herself down with a few deep breaths. "You have a way of annoying people when investigating your stories."

"It's not my fault if the truth hurts!" Chloe said indignantly.

Amara sighed. "Chloe, no one will hear the truth if the messenger gets themselves killed or jailed."

* * *

"Welcome to your new body." Harry smiled at Lana as she opened her eyes.

She smiled back and then turned her head to see her old meteor infected body lying crumpled on the floor.

Then she looked down at her new body and blushed.

"Clothes!" She squeaked as she covered herself as best she could.

"Oh! Right, why the devil do you lot never remind me?" Harry glared at the Cuckoos, Jean and Emma.

Then he looked at Emma again. "Well, not you." He told the naked and proud woman.

* * *

Chloe's life became absolute hell over the following two days as Sheriff Miller tore her life apart. It wasn't until Amara had threatened him with a harassment suit that he finally charged Deputy Watts and handed him over for prosecution.

"I trust you learnt your lesson, Miss Sullivan?" The Sheriff said pointedly as she finished signing her name on her witness statement.

Chloe went from annoyed to livid in 0.5 seconds. "I'm sorry? Are you saying I asked to be kidnapped?"

"Get off your high horse, Miss Sullivan." Miller scoffed. "I'm asking if you've learnt a lesson from the past two days about harassing people. Poking your nose where it shouldn't go and generally respecting other people. Believe it or not, I was quite restrained with how I investigated this case. Ideally I should have called in additional aid from the FBI as they handle kidnapping cases, especially when minors are involved. They would have been much more invasive."

"Are you trying to claim you were only doing your job when you questioned my friends? Went through my belongings and generally made my life hell?" She demanded.

"Yes. You are just lucky that Watts confessed this morning or I would have had to get other people involved and nothing your lawyer said would have changed that."

Chloe looked at Amara. "He's right, legally he is required to report this to the federal authorities, but he held off for the maximum amount of time he could."

"Here." Miller tossed a book on the table.

"'The FBI Handbook'?" She read the title questioningly.

"It's not the official handbook, but it is something that is passed around to help the new recruits, it might help you understand that what I did was limited compared to what the FBI would have done. Just remember how this felt the next time you start your own investigation." He warned as he turned and left the interrogation room.

It was a long shot, but Chloe Sullivan was young and headstrong. She firmly believed she was in the right and Lorna and the others clearly didn't think she would mature for a few more years… barring any more life threatening events. They would just do what they could to prevent her getting herself killed.

* * *

"Clark catch!" With super human reflexes Clark's hand snapped out and caught the object Harry had thrown at him. He looked at the strange octagonal disk curiously.

"You have no respect for safety, do you?" Lex asked as he, Martha and Jonathan glared at Harry.

Clark, who had just arrived at the castle from doing his chores, sat down on the nearest free sofa. "Was this meteor rock?"

"It's a possible part of your ship, Clark. We were worried it might react badly to you." Lex explained as he sat back. "I've had teams going through the field you landed in looking to clear out all the meteor rocks and hoping they would find something. They found that."

"It does look like it would fit." Clark admitted. He then looked at Harry with narrowed eyes. "How many of them did it take to convince you not to just ram this into the ship?"

"Just these three." Harry grinned. "The rest knew I wouldn't do it without consulting you first, considering it is _your_ ship."

"And the ship is still…?" He asked leadingly.

"Hidden in the storm cellar."

Clark nodded. "So when do we try this out?"

"You will observe from safety. I will be alone when I try this thing." Harry said sternly.

"But it's from my planet, why would it hurt me? It brought me here."

"Two words, can you figure it out?" Harry asked patronisingly.

Clark furrowed his brow. "Alien Invasion?"

Lex just laughed. "Meteor rocks, Clark. The ship hasn't hurt you yet, but what happens if we turn it on and you react to it like you do to meteor rocks?"

"Wouldn't they have thought of that?"

"Nobody can think of everything, Clark." Harry warned. "After millions of years _I_ still forget things."

"Like how to knock." Jonathan grumbled.

"I said I was sorry!" Harry exclaimed.

"I really don't want to know where this is going so can we get back to turning my ship on?" Clark asked hastily.

"We can do it on Saturday, that way Lana and Chloe can both be there for you."

"Is it safe for them?" Clark asked worriedly.

"Considering I'll be there and I can heal everything _including_ death… I'd say so."

* * *

The following Saturday the ship was moved to the Castle and to a special laboratory that Harry had created. It resembled the Danger Room from the X-Mansion in that it was mainly metallic and had a viewing room situated high up. In the lab itself stood Laura with the octagonal disk. In the viewing room stood the Kents, Lex, Chloe, Lana and all of the other dimensional travellers.

"Why is Laura doing this and not you? I thought you couldn't die?" Chloe asked.

"Laura has a very impressive healing ability. Not as good as my own but she can take a huge amount of punishment. It was pointed out to me that if something goes wrong I should be able to move freely to try and correct it." Harry explained.

"_Ok, I'm putting the disk in now."_ Laura's voice came over the speakers.

They watched as the ship lit up and suddenly began to hover. The spherical section began glow brightly.

Down in the lab Laura began to address the ship.

"_Identify yourself."_

"Why is she talking to it?" Lana asked.

"Most forms of advanced tech can be activated verbally." Scott answered. "This is the safest route. If this doesn't work she will need to find an interface to use."

"You're assuming that the ship has an intelligence and isn't just a life boat with a rocket." Chloe argued.

"Someone took the time to make sure Clark was comfortable and safe in that thing for the time he was travelling. I don't believe they would leave his fate to chance."

"But we _are_ running on assumptions and theories of which we have little to no proof." Jean admitted.

"What if it doesn't speak English?" Lana asked.

"She is using a translation spell, it usually works on technology as well." Scott explained.

"_Moving on to establishing a physical interface."_ Laura announced.

They watched as Laura began touching and prodding the surface of the ship.

The ship suddenly sent out a burst of light that flooded the lab and the viewing room.

"_Kal-El my son, we must leave this place at once."_ Came a deep calm voice from the ship. _"These people are a threat to us."_

"Kal-El?" Lana asked.

"Probably Clark's birth name." Jean offered.

"Not bad guys." Dani grinned at Martha and Jonathan. "I don't think you could get much closer to 'Kal-El' then 'Clark Kent'."

"Not now Dani." Amara chided. "That thing just called us a threat to Clark."

"Pfft." She said dismissively. "Harry, go show that thing who's boss."

"Yes dear." Harry laughed as he walked through the viewing room window and floated to the floor.

"Does he do that to show off?" Chloe asked.

"No, he's just been doing it for millions of years, its like breathing to him." Amara explained.

"Alright you overpowered tin can, why are we a threat to you?" Harry asked the ship as he landed next to Laura who took a step back.

"_Kal-El, we must leave."_

"Don't ignore me. I don't like people who lie. Especially if they try and deceive my friends. Now why are you lying about us being a threat to Kal-El?"

The ship rose into the air and began to head for the viewing room.

"Scott, activate containment." Harry ordered.

In the viewing room Scott hit a button and a metal shield slammed down over the window, blocking their view.

"We can watch here." He said as he led them to a table behind them. He pressed a few buttons and a holographic image of the lab and its occupants appeared.

"Whoa! Why doesn't the rest of the world have this?" Chloe asked.

"Because they would blow themselves up with it. Now, focus." Emma said sternly.

Back in the lab, sections of the walls had retracted to reveal sheets of meteor rock, the ship began to stutter and fall before it built up an energy surge that it released.

"Huh… thanks, I didn't know how to do that." Harry muttered as he examined the now crystal clear sheets. They appeared to be completely inert, emitting no energy. "Doesn't change anything though. You keep trying to get Clark to leave, his family love him and so do we. That makes you our enemy. Give me a good reason why we shouldn't rip you to pieces."

The ship turned and suddenly accelerated in the blink of an eye ploughing into the ceiling.

There was a loud bang before the ship fell to the floor with a crumpled nose point.

"That was pointless." Harry sighed.

The ship rose shakily into the air. "You are not humans. Humans do not have this level of technology." The ship stated.

"Sure they do. I am human."

"Your genetic makeup is similar but you have an energy that marks you as something else."

"I'm just a different branch of humans. I can use magic." Harry explained.

"Magic? The superstitions of the humans your 'Dark Ages' spoke of? You still have not broken free of that delusion?" The ship queried. "I was wrong to send my son to Earth. I should have sent him to the Guardians, they may have found a more suitable home for the Last Son of Krypton."

"Krypton, is that the name of your planet?"

"It is."

"What do you know about the green meteor rocks that affect Clark so badly?"

"Clark?"

"The one you call Kal-El, the one you brought to this planet."

"They are fragments of the destroyed planet of Krypton. Kal-El was sent here to preserve the Kryptonian legacy. Under a yellow sun Kryptonite is deadly to Kryptonians."

"And Kal-El is the last one."

"Yes."

"Back to my earlier question, why do you consider us a threat to Kal-El?" Harry asked.

"Humans are primitive and their values are not the same as Kryptonians. He has already been tainted by the human way and now I must correct that."

"Then why bring him to Earth in the first place?"

The ship remained silent.

"That can't be good." Laura muttered.

"Agreed." Harry frowned. "You sent him here to conquer Earth."

The ship remained silent.

"Fine, you can stay in here. We will deal with you later." Harry said before he teleported Laura and himself up to the viewing room.

"That was fairly productive!" Harry smiled happily as he rubbed his hands together.

"It was?" Lana asked.

"We learnt Clark's real name, the name of his planet and the reason for the green rocks affecting him." Scott explained.

"We also learnt that the ship has an Artificial Intelligence and possibly a complete record of all knowledge on Krypton as it knew a fair amount about Earth." Laura added.

"Is the ship secure in there?" Lana asked worriedly. "It won't be able to break out and get to Clark?"

"It would take a god to break out of there." Harry assured her. "That or a very powerful witch or wizard."

"None of us could do it." Laura answered.

"Even I would have trouble." Brunhilde added as the closest of them to an actual god.

"What do we do with that information?" Clark asked. "And the ship."

Everyone turned to the rather subdued alien being. It was clear he had a lot on his mind now. Lana took his hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

"We are going to remove the computer so it can't physically harm us, then we are going to interrogate it further and possibly attempt to extract all the raw data." Laura answered. "I'm looking forward to the challenge." She smiled.

"Likewise." Brunhilde grinned.

"You like playing with computers?" Clark asked in disbelief. It was hard to imagine the Valkyrie who always beat him into submission during training and actually acted like she belonged in a Viking Mead hall sitting in front of a high tech computer.

"Indeed. It was Laura who taught me computers many millennia ago."

There was a squeak/moan from Chloe. "Millennia!" Everyone just looked at her. "Sorry, still have trouble dealing with the fact that you lot are older than dirt."

"I am not!" Dani objected. "Harry might be, but we aren't."

"You're older than civilisation in this reality." Clark countered.

Dani just gave a shrug of acceptance of that fact.

"When will I get to speak to the ship?" Clark asked.

"When we are sure we have removed its ability to interact with the world physically or we have at least catalogued all of its abilities."

"And preferably after we know what the ship's intentions towards you and for you are." Jonathan added.

"But for now… more training!" Harry decreed as he clapped his hands causing himself, Clark, Lana and Chloe to vanish.

"He has something new planned for Clark?" Martha asked.

"TO THE WINDOW!" Dani cried dramatically before she vanished.

"Are we sure-"

"Yes Lex, she's perfectly sane." Jean sighed.

* * *

"Do you have a permit for all these guns?" Chloe asked as they stood in the courtyard. In front of them was a table with a vast array of weapons from pistols to shotguns to assault rifles.

"Nope!" Harry grinned.

Clark hated that grin. It always spelt suffering for him. Maybe not pain, but he was usually the butt of Harry's jokes and enjoyment.

"First rule of guns… what goes up must come down." Harry said seriously. "In other words, don't shoot in the air unless you know for damn sure there isn't another person around for miles."

"Really? That's the first rule of guns? My uncle is an army general and that's not what I was taught." Chloe said with a sceptic look.

"What do you want from me? I never had formal training with weapons, I just know how to use them."

"How old were you when you first learnt?" Lana asked.

"About sixteen. My dad taught me."

"And he wasn't responsible enough to teach you how to use them properly?" Chloe demanded.

"His main rule was don't shoot what you don't want to hit."

Chloe just stared at him.

"What? Safety wasn't a big deal around me. I could heal anyone I shot… which included myself as my first real encounter with a gun involved the Queen of England shooting me with a hunting rifle."

"You brought that on yourself, didn't you?" Clark asked suspiciously.

Harry looked sheepish. "I may have broken into her private rooms with the Prime Minister."

"He's not lying is he?" Chloe asked as she turned to Clark.

"I doubt it. You should have Hilde tell you some of the stories of what he got up to with the kings of Asgard and Olympus."

"Why are we learning about guns?" Lana asked somewhat stressed. She didn't like being close to such dangerous objects.

"Because they are good for protection, considering the trouble you two girls get into, and also because I thought you would like to help with Clark's next stage of training."

Harry picked up a standard revolver and pointed it at Clark. "Dodge this." He instructed as he began firing the weapon at Clark rapidly causing the two girls to dive to the ground in fear.

As the gun clicked on empty Harry looked down at the two girls. "I've been firing these things for millions of years, don't you think my aim is good enough to not hit you?"

"Where was the bang?" Lana asked. There had been no sound as the bullets left the gun.

"Silencing charms on the guns means you don't need to wear protective ear wear." Harry explained.

"Here." Clark said as he held out his hand and dropped the spent bullets he had plucked out of the air on the table.

"Oh my god! You caught those? You're _that_ fast?" Chloe asked in awe.

"Wow… faster than a speeding bullet, Clark?" Lana echoed Chloe's sentiments.

"Be careful when you say that to a guy, Lana." Harry smirked.

The three teenagers frowned as they tried to work out the meaning. Chloe got it first whilst Lana and Clark seemed to suddenly catch on soon after. Chloe just snorted a laugh whilst the other two blushed like crazy.

"Anyway!" Harry clapped his hands loudly. "Girls, grab a gun and start firing at Clark. Clark, you need to catch every bullet."

"Aren't you going to teach us how to fire them?" Chloe asked.

"Fine, pick a gun and bring it here." He sighed. Honestly, he preferred it when people just tried new things; it wasn't like it would kill them… at least not for long.


	14. Chapter 14

Shooting Clark turned out to be quite therapeutic for the girls; it didn't bother Clark as it was just another game like football or pool that Dani and Lorna challenged him too.

For Lex, he had a chance to reconnect with Pamela. Harry hadn't made her a magical just as he hadn't made Lex a magical. For the moment they were too high risk. Earl Jenkins and his family lived on their property and stayed in Smallville for the most part, as did Cassandra. Harry had no intention of withholding magic from them forever, just until they became more used to the idea of magic or in Lex's case, until magic was more widespread and he wouldn't have an extra target on his back.

Clark had surprised Dani and actually managed to ask Lana to the Spring Formal without prompting. She had been ready to smash him over the head with a kryptonite club. She pouted for an hour.

Chloe still didn't have a date. She intended to go stag, despite Clark and Lana's protests otherwise. It was the current sole student of Lorna's school who saved her: Jeremy Creek. He had come a long way since trying to fry his former tormentors and losing his memory and when he had overheard Chloe's predicament he had offered to escort her as he had missed his Spring Formal. The following year he would be attending a Metropolis high school as a regular student as he had made significant progress in controlling his powers.

Lex was the one with current problems. Over the past six months his father had been trying to get him back to Metropolis. Lex claimed that Lionel didn't like the fact that Lex was beginning to have his own successes and wanted to be able to keep a closer watch on him. He had gone from simple persuading to out right backstabbing. This brought Lex to Harry for help.

"He stood there and announced that he was closing the plant immediately due to management issues!" Lex ranted as he paced in the castle living room. "He blatantly accused me of failing in front of all the people I spent a year getting to know and helping get that plant successful."

"Can't you just buy him out?" Amara asked.

"We have done." Lex admitted. "I managed to convince the other employee shareholders to join together and institute a buy out with me. They were reluctant but understood it was the only way."

"Then what's the issue?"

Lex scowled angrily. "Dad bought the Smallville bank. He now owns their mortgages and loans and he threatened to foreclose on them if they were even a day late."

"What plan did you have in mind for us?" Harry asked curiously.

"Nothing, I'm at a loss. I just pushed my employees into a corner they can't back out of. I'm open to any suggestions."

"Why not just have them transfer their loans and mortgages to another bank?" Lorna asked.

"Dad has raised the transfer fees to astronomical levels."

"You could pay those off yourself." She suggested.

"Not without causing significant damage to myself financially. Forget that it could empty all my accounts, my reputation would be shot because I lost so much, it wouldn't matter why I lost it, the business world just see it as a bad business move."

"He is correct." Emma nodded. "They would be like piranhas sensing blood in the water."

"I know we agreed to not do anything drastic in this world yet, but we could create a new Smallville bank." Dani offered hesitantly.

"Do you know the outlay required for that?" Lex asked incredulously. "The start up costs alone-" He stopped mid sentence as Dani conjured a diamond with a large smile. "What about the employees of the current bank? They are good people who will be out of jobs when my father decides the bank is a money pit and simply shuts it down."

"I doubt your dad would do that." Jean waved off that concern. "He is too competitive. It's more likely that he would turn his attentions to us to discover where our wealth comes from. He would try and destroy us."

Lex cringed when he saw the huge grin on Harry's face. "I think I'm about to find out why Clark hates that look."

* * *

Three days later and the Beanery was closed, as was the store next door, Mellville's Nursery. Amara had walked into the Beanery with a health and safety officer who declared the place closed and then she proceeded to make a modest offer for the place. She then walked next door and offered Jodi and her father a small fortune and the chance to open a larger store on their lands at the edge of town.

Four days later and the both buildings were demolished and the work began on a new single building. It was a huge secret as to what was being built; all they knew was that it was a very large and sturdy building.

Five days later and Clark stumbled into the Kent home missing his shirt and with his jeans badly tattered and singed.

"Clark, what the hell happened to you?" Dani asked. "You smell like explosives!"

"The truck blew up." He said somewhat woodenly as he sank into a chair at the table.

"The truck blew up?" Amara echoed. "Do you know how?"

"I turned the key and… boom." He was still slightly shocked.

"Clark? Hey, what's the big deal, you've survived worse." Dani prodded him in his naked shoulder.

"I have?" He asked sceptically.

"You were eaten by a T-Rex." She smirked.

Clark could only nod. "I didn't even feel the heat or the explosion. I guess I'm getting stronger."

"As expected." Amara said firmly. "You are still a child and you are still maturing. Harry and Jean both believe that you could take on Thor and Bruce Banner one on one when you finally hit your peak."

"Take on the God of Thunder?" Clark asked slightly shocked at the thought.

"We probably ought to deal with the bigger issues, like telling Martha and Jonathan and then figuring out what caused the explosion and if anyone saw." Amara redirected the conversation. "Clark go and get changed."

"Aww, can't he stay like that?" Dani whined as she lovingly caressed Clark's naked chest.

There was a gust of wind as Clark vanished leaving a smirking Dani and exasperated Amara.

* * *

"I've got various chemical explosives and here is part of the detonator." Laura said as she held up some melted black plastic.

The castle residents stood with the Kents around the remains of the truck as the sun sat low on the horizon.

"We've also got someone watching and listening." Harry mused as he pointed to the car parked several hundred metres away. "Clark, go and get him will you. Don't worry about hiding what you can do."

The car suddenly started up and started to move off. Clark sped after it, moving to the front and placing both hands on the bonnet. The man in the car looked at Clark fearfully and he pushed harder on the accelerator. Clark pushed harder on the bonnet, buckling the metal and pushing the wheels deeper into the mud.

There were two loud bangs as the tyres burst and then the rims started digging further into the mud and gravel.

"He can stand there all day doing that."

The man turned in fright and shock to see Harry leaning casually against the side of his driver door. "In fact, I'm going to have him turn your car into a paperweight." Harry nodded thoughtfully. He grabbed the driver and pulled him out of the car, phasing him through the door. "Clark, crush the car as small as you can."

Clark was used to weird requests from Harry. There was usually a method to his madness. It was just rare that he shared his method.

He began systematically flattening and folding the car starting with the engine as the driver watched in fascinated horror. By the time Clark was finished it was the size of a small toaster sitting in his hand.

"Very nice Clark." Harry said approvingly. "Now, Mr…" He asked leadingly.

"Soon to be very rich." The driver said with a greedy smile. "I'll just be going now, I have a story to print." He said as he pried Harry's hand off his shoulder.

"Jean, would you get the basics before I wipe his mind." Harry requested.

"I've already done so, Harry." Emma interjected. "He's a reporter, a former acquaintance of Lex's. Roger Nixon: never met a Nixon I could trust. He's the one who blew up the truck." She grimaced.

"Wonderful parlour trick my dear." Roger said condescendingly. "See you in the papers."

"Shut up Roger, the adults are talking." Martha snapped as she sent a silencing charm at the man. She was not about to let this monster who tried to hurt her son walk away.

"God I wish you were bi." Dani said with a longing look at Martha.

Martha just rolled her eyes with a smile as Clark's brain stalled.

"Anything of use or shall we set him up for attempted murder?" Harry asked.

"No, Lex fired him and warned him off Clark ages ago." Emma replied.

"Not that I don't think he's guilty, but how do you intend to prove it?" Jonathan asked carefully.

"Well, first we need to repair his car and your truck." Harry said.

"I'll handle the truck." Dani volunteered as she skipped off with Martha and Amara hand in hand.

"I'll deal with the car." Scott offered as he led Clark off to the side.

"Laura can you replicate the device if Emma shows it to you?" Harry asked the ebony haired woman.

"Shouldn't be a problem."

"Excellent, all that's left is for Jonathan to engage in a game of rock-paper-scissors with Amara, Dani and Martha to see which one gets to be blown up." Harry said as he dragged Jonathan over to the truck.

"Wait! Blown up?!" Jonathan objected as he struggled in an unrelenting Harry's grip.

* * *

"I still want a do over! You three cheated!" Dani ranted as she lay in the hospital bed completely bandaged up.

She had one leg in a cast her ribs bound and her left arm in a sling.

"You lost fair and square Dani." Martha smirked. "You just need to admit it."

"You wait Martha Kent, one day I'm going to slip you some truth serum and _then_ we'll find out the truth!" She glared.

"How's my favourite patient of the day?" Harry asked happily as he bustled into the room.

"Throwing about wild accusations of cheating." Martha smiled.

"Which is why she isn't allowed to play poker anymore. Or Monopoly. Or Scrabble. Or-"

"I get the picture Harry."

"I don't think you do, her accusations of cheating are usually to cover her own cheating." Harry said.

"That was never proven!" Dani objected as her face heated up in embarrassment.

"Only because I never confirmed you were lying sweetheart." Harry laughed. "Now, you will need to be in for at least a week, minimum. Try and act like you are in some pain, maybe even a little traumatised."

"You better make sure I at least get Amara for company over night." She warned.

"She'll be here as soon as she and Jonathan have finished with the Sheriff and the insurance company." He assured her.

In order to convince the doctors, nurses and other officials that the accident was serious, Laura had staged a controlled explosion in which Dani was actually injured. It had hurt like hell, but after millennia of fighting she and the others had learnt various techniques to ignore the pain. If Martha or Jonathan had lost the game then Harry would have numbed them so they couldn't feel pain.

Roger Nixon had his memory altered. He had no idea about Clark or what he might suspect he could do. He simply thought that he could get a story if he started blowing people up… which was about the same as what he was trying with Clark except now he was a burgeoning serial killer.

* * *

The group was three short as they waved Clark, Lana, Jeremy and Chloe off as they headed to the Spring Formal. Scott, Laura and Emma where already at the school arranging things and playing chaperone. The two limos, one for each couple, had been a gift from Lex.

The triplets were going stag as it would be seen as inappropriate to go with Harry.

"Did you have this sort of thing back in your home worlds?" Martha asked as they headed inside the castle.

"We tried, but every week there was another villain to deal with. We had our times though." Amara smiled in fond remembrance as she pushed Dani's wheel chair.

Dani was stuck in the wheel chair until she would normally heal without magic, they couldn't risk jeopardising the case against Nixon.

"How about you Harry?" Jonathan asked.

"When I was in school we didn't have dances like America does. Most English schools didn't. I did attend a special Yule Ball when I was fourteen. It was an international thing to do with a special tournament."

"Sounds exciting." Martha smiled.

"I was about three years underage, entered against my will by someone who was trying to kill a highly agoraphobic fourteen year old." Harry said frankly. "It was a bloody nightmare. Especially considering what else happened that year." He shuddered. Lorna moved closer giving him comfort.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Nobody wanted to know what could cause Death to shudder like that.

"I have a different question." Lex offered, changing the subject. "Which of you is this 'Batman' who keeps popping up in Gotham?"

"The caped vigilante?" Dani asked.

"Yes, I saw it in the papers and put in a request with my contacts for more details. I was just curious if it was one of you."

"No, but it sounds like it is another indication that this world is reaching the next stage of evolution." Harry mused seriously.

"Is this person a mutant or meteor infected?" Jonathan asked.

"From what I could see, the individual might just be very fit, but they have been seen flying and performing feats of reasonable strength." Lex answered.

"He's not taking the punishment into his own hands is he?" Jonathan asked worriedly.

"Actually, no." Lex assured him. "He does have a flair for the dramatic though when he leaves the criminals for the police to arrest. I'll show you the file I have so far."

"Eventually we might take Clark and see if we can get a meeting with this masked man." Harry said. "It'll be a good learning experience."

"And a chance to design a costume for Clark!" Dani said eagerly.

"Costume?" Jonathan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He needs to keep his identity secret or he will never have a private moment in his life ever again." Harry explained. "Take it from someone who was made into a celebrity at the age of one."

* * *

Clark and Lana had received quite a few compliments from their fellow students as they danced and mingled. Neither was particularly interested in dancing to the faster songs instead content to sway in each other's arms. It was, to be frank, the best night of their young lives. The high school quarterback and the head cheerleader were the undisputed king and queen of the dance.

Jeremy had found himself handed a camera as Chloe pulled him all over the place to take photos for the paper. Jeremy soon put a stop to it and told her to enjoy the dance as a student.

It was only a half an hour into the dance that the band stopped playing and Principal Frost took the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen… and Mr. Kent." She said gaining some snickers and a red face from the aforementioned Mr. Kent. "I have some serious news. There has been a tornado warning issued. Three separate funnels were seen touching down at the edge of town."

The murmurs began.

"You are in no danger as this is a tornado safe building." She assured them. She was certain of that as she Laura and Scott had applied the runes themselves before having the others double-check them. "The school is a designated shelter so we expect to have more people entering soon. In aid of this we will be conscripting you gentlemen to help set up tables and chairs under the direction of Coach Summers. Ladies, dresses are quite the inconvenience at this time so you will head to the locker rooms to change into gym clothes, Coach Kinney will take your dresses and lock them safely away.

"Mr. Kent, with me please." She ordered as she stepped down from the platform.

Clark turned to Lana. "I'll see you in a bit. They might have me outside or something."

"Be safe." Lana said worriedly.

"If bullets can't hurt me then I doubt flying debris can." He grinned.

He made to move off but found himself pulled back; he turned to see an angry Lana glaring at him. "The debris those tornadoes kick up might contain meteor rocks." She hissed quietly.

Clark paled at the thought.

"I'll… er… I'll mention that to Em- Principal Frost." He said nervously.

Lana's expression relaxed and she pushed him off with a nod.

"Don't worry Lana, we'll keep you company."

Lana rolled her eyes as she heard the lascivious drawl of Mindee Cuckoo. She turned, unsurprised to find all three Cuckoos standing there. "Aren't you three going to be out there helping?" She asked pointedly.

"But how would we explain our disappearance?" Celeste said innocently.

"Come, let's find Chloe and we can change our clothes with magic in a classroom or something."

* * *

Emma led Clark to her office where she teleported them both to the castle, she instructed him to go in and find Harry as she teleported back to the school.

Outside the wind was already blowing strong and Clark had to shield his eyes as he made his way inside where he found the rest of the castle residents along with Lex, Earl, Mr. Melville and his parents.

"Clark, excellent." Harry said as he saw him enter. "You and I are going to be making a run around the various properties, Lex is working with Jonathan to contact the National Guard and Rescue services to handle coordination. Once the storms have gone we will all begin a census of the town and then act as necessary for search and rescue."

"Follow Harry's every instruction, son." Jonathan instructed sternly.

"Yes Dad." Clark nodded obediently. It was common sense really, after the journeys and adventures Harry had dragged him on, he would be a fool to do anything _but_ what Harry said.

"Come on Clark, let's get a move on. We will be moving invisibly so-" Harry waved a hand and Clark became invisible. He looked down at his hands and body-

"Ow!" And accidentally poked himself in the eye.

The adults chuckled and snickered.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually. My first experience with invisibility involved wearing a cloak." Harry assured him.

* * *

Harry couldn't move as fast as Clark could so he made himself weightless and let Clark drag him in the direction of the tornadoes to see if they could stop them.

"Alright, back in my previous home we had several beings who could control the weather. We don't have that here but we do have basic science." Harry said as they stood staring at the massive tornadoes from within a protective shield Harry had conjured.

"Cool air from the rear flank downdraft needs to surround the funnel and cut off the warm air feeding it." Clark recited.

"Very good Clark! You've studied tornadoes?"

"They are common enough in these parts." Clark shrugged.

"Right… so… we need to cool the air around the funnel. Clark, you are about to get very cold." Harry warned.

"Why?" He asked nervously.

"Whilst I am clinging to you I am going to generate a sub-zero cold and you will run at super-speed around the tornado until it dissipates. Then we will move onto the next one."

"Couldn't we just throw Sean Kelvin into the tornado?" Clark whined.

Harry jumped on Clark's back, piggyback style. "Mush!"

* * *

Lex drove back to the mansion through the eerily quiet Smallville Main Street. The damage was minimal as Clark and Harry had managed to dissipate the tornadoes before they reached the town. The most amount of damage was the public waste bins that had been blown over. He made a note to load up with some cleaning equipment and come and help Lana out with the Talon as there were a few broken windows.

Clark and Harry were happy to report that all the residents had been safely locked away in their storm cellars; they had just had to round up a few stray animals and repair two barns and a house that was practically destroyed. Fortunately no one would be aware of what they had done for a while until the authorities gave the all clear.

Harry had to declare a local graveyard off limits though as a tornado had done severe damage to the point of ripping up graves.

Lex reached the mansion and realised that it must have been either one of the first places hit by a tornado or simply in the middle of some very heavy winds. The place was a mess as nearly every window was broken and a large tree had fallen through the roof. He was lucky he had been out helping Jonathan coordinate with the authorities.

He made his way inside to get to the wine cellar that doubled as the storm shelter for the mansion. The mansion workers would have taken refuge there.

He was side tracked by the sounds of moaning. He quickly changed course for the study where he found his father trapped beneath a ceiling beam.

"Dad!" Lex exclaimed as he leapt over the beam. He made a cursory glance of how his father was pinned and pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing? Get this thing off of me!" Lionel yelled.

"I can't, we need professional gear in case you get injured further in the process." Lex hissed as he covered the mouthpiece. "Yes, I need a rescue team at Luthor Mansion, my father is trapped beneath a beam."

"…"

"No, I can't see any external injuries aside from a few cuts… Dad, do you know if you are injured any where?"

"I am trapped beneath a heavy beam… OF COURSE I'M INJURED!"

Lex rolled his eyes. "Just get here quick." He said as he hung up.

"Where the devil where you?" Lionel demanded.

"I was helping to coordinate the emergency services. I was at the Potter Castle." Lex said as he bundled up his coat and placed it beneath his dad's head.

Lionel scoffed derisively. "Lex, we are Luthors. We do not engage in the affairs of lesser men. If you want to feel important or powerful, run for office."

"I think I will go and check the rest of the house… wouldn't want anything else to fall on you." Lex muttered in annoyance.

"Lex… wait! You can't leave me here! Lex! Lex?"

Lex just kept walking.

* * *

Jean was working hard at the hospital as various injuries came flooding in. Clark and Harry had stopped the funnels but there were still high winds to deal with and that meant people getting injured. She was pleased and proud of both Lana and Chloe when they had turned up at the hospital in their gym clothes and offered to help out. She kept them close as her personal assistants, lending them out as needed.

Their lack of training meant that they couldn't do things like clean up bodily fluids or be present for exams, but considering the mass of patients they were excellent for grabbing extra bandages and splints as needed. A small percentage of the Smallville population was soon mummified with scolding on getting to shelter quicker next time.

"I just saw Lex." Lana said as she came back to Jean and Chloe after running an errand for a nurse. "He seems fine but he says his dad was at the mansion and was trapped under a fallen beam. He's in surgery now."

"Oh dear. I don't care for Lionel one bit." Jean frowned. "But that doesn't change the fact that Lex's father is in trouble and Lex will be worried. I can handle things here for now. Why don't you two go and keep him company."

The girls quickly made their way to Lex where they got the necessary information from him.

"They are saying that there is possible damage to his optic nerve." Lex explained. "I told them to operate straight away instead of waiting like one of the doctors wanted."

"So now you are just waiting to hear the results?" Chloe asked.

"Welcome to the waiting game girls." Lex gave a sour laugh.

* * *

Clark and Harry stood with Pete and his parents and siblings as they gazed up at their demolished house. There was absolutely no way they could stay in there now. They had been at the school when the storms hit and were thankfully safe now.

"I'm sure my parents would be able to put you up." Clark offered.

"Your parents are going to have their hands full just dealing with the farm after the storms." Mr. Ross said firmly. "We will just have to find a hotel in Metropolis."

"What about all our stuff?" Kathy, Pete's sister, asked with tears in her eyes.

"I'll have my family go through the wreckage and we will try and salvage everything we can, then we'll send it on to your new home." Harry assured them.

"We'd appreciate that Doctor Potter." Judge Abigail Ross said gratefully.

"It's an easy thing to do. Did you sell the house off already?"

Abigail looked to her husband and they shared a smirk. "We sold it to Lionel Luthor. He under paid but we had little choice as he scared off other buyers."

"Seems like he get's a taste of karma now." Mr. Ross added smugly.

"It's a shame you couldn't get in contact with me. This is prime real estate. We would have paid top dollar."

"It doesn't matter, it's done now and we can only move forwards." Mr. Ross said sadly. Smallville had been good for his children and wife, but personally it had been disaster after disaster ever since Luthor came to town.

"Well come on. Let's see what we can do to get you set up in your new home." Harry said as he dragged Mr. and Mrs. Ross away from the scene.

"Our house in Topeka won't be ready for another two weeks." Abigail said.

"We can at least get you a hotel there and fly you out. You are good people Judge Ross and those who want to be good people need to lead by example… so I'm flying you out and if we can't speed up the process on the house then we will put you in the best hotel we can find. Think of it as a thank you for your years of service and citizenship to Smallville."

Clark just rolled his eyes as he listened to the inevitable back and forth of polite declines and Harry's stubbornness.

* * *

The Ross family was soon packed onto the private jet owned by Harry and his family. Emma, having already gone through with purchasing a private helicopter had also bought a private jet that was hangered in Metropolis.

Lana and Chloe had returned home to their families but when Harry and Clark had made it back to the castle after a very long day, they found Lex engaged in a very intense fencing match with Hilde. They were not using protective gear and both were sporting gashes.

"What's going on?" Harry asked Laura who was standing nearby making sure things didn't get too far out of hand.

"Lex returned to his home to find Lionel there. Lionel was trapped under a fallen beam. He required surgery to deal with a damaged optic nerve but it failed and Lionel is now blind and taking great pains to taunt Lex. Hilde decided to help him burn off his anger."

"Did Jean take a look?"

"She says he might still regain his sight but there is too much scarring from the surgery to tell right now. It could also be simple shock to his nervous system."

"Can't you do anything for him?" Clark asked Harry.

"Not without revealing magic or my true nature. Lionel is the last person I would tell any of my secrets." Harry said.

"Can we do anything for Lex?"

"Yeah, keep the door open for him so he has some place to escape to."


	15. Chapter 15

The next few days were busy as Harry and his family helped around town and Lex focused on getting his father the best medical help he could find short of Harry Potter.

Chloe was off to Metropolis to begin her internship at the Daily Planet and Lana and her aunt were taking a vacation to New York to indulge in museums, spas and anything else that took their fancy.

The day after Lana left, Harry grabbed Clark and teleported away. When they reappeared Clark found himself in a very dismal and gothic looking city.

"Welcome to Gotham City, Clark."

"Why did you bring me here? Is this my universe or one of yours?" Clark asked.

"Yours. I thought we might try and meet this Batman that has been reported in the city."

"You want to recruit him?"

"Recruit him? I don't want to recruit anyone. I just want to make sure he is doing this for the right reasons and that if he is he has the support he needs."

"How do we find him?"

"We lurk. At night." Harry grinned.

Harry booked them into the Gotham Towers hotel, the Penthouse Suite. It was ideal for all sorts of people from wealthy families to business people to celebrities with its private elevator, multiple bedrooms and extra security. Not to mention the feature Harry and Clark were likely to use, the balcony.

They spent a week in Gotham without a hint of the Batman. They spent all night from dusk till dawn scouring the city before heading to bed. During the afternoons Harry took Clark out to various places like the Gotham Museum and Art Gallery to try and teach him about history and culture.

Clark learnt an important fact about Gotham. It was just as dismal in the day as it was in the night. That and the crime rate was astronomical. They had to stop three murder attempts, four rapes, six robberies and thirty-two muggings in the week they were there.

On their sixth day they met a familiar face when they had dinner at a very upscale restaurant. Clark was uncomfortable in the suit and tie, he couldn't even read the menu that seemed to be in every language except English and he felt like he was the youngest person in the place.

That's when the expensive sports car pulled up outside and a young man with a beautiful woman on either arm tumbled out and into the restaurant causing quite the scene.

"Isn't that Mr. Wayne? From the Metropolis Museum? When Lex had that armour on display?" Clark asked quietly.

"It is." Harry said quietly with a small frown.

He watched as the young billionaire laughed off the antics of his dates as they proceeded to bathe in the nearby pool and then silenced the Head Waiter by effectively buying the restaurant on the spot.

"Wait here Clark, I'll be right back." Harry smirked.

"Wait! Harry! What if the Waiter comes back?!" Clark hissed. This was a nightmare for Clark. He was completely out of his league. He was fairly certain the waiter knew he was just a farm boy and would likely spit in his food.

Harry kept walking.

"Bruce, I forgot this was your town." Harry greeted the man happily as he held out his hand.

Bruce had to focus for a moment before he remembered the face. "Doctor Potter! What brings you to Gotham?" He asked, returning the smile and handshake.

"Harry, please. I decided to bring Clark here over the summer, try and give him a broader outlook on life and culture." Harry explained as he indicated the fifteen-year-old sitting nervously at the table alone. "Why don't you and your friends join us?"

"Are you sure? These girls are nice enough but I got the impression that Clark was from a rural town. They might be out of his comfort zone." Bruce frowned. The truth was he had no idea who the women were. He had picked them up in a nightclub and the only thing he had made sure of was that they were not prostitutes.

"Expanding his comfort zone is one of the reasons for this trip." Harry nodded. "You grab your girls and I will find them some dry clothes, can't have them catching a cold over dinner now. Doctors orders!" Harry quipped as he headed off.

Harry cast a quick glance at the two girls in the water before he headed to the coat check in. He confounded the girl on duty into thinking she gave him a shopping bag before he headed back to the table.

"Bruce, as luck would have it, Clark and I went shopping today and with the number of women in my life, if I didn't buy them something I would be lynched. Your young friends can have these to change into." He said as he handed over the bag that he had conjured with appropriate sized clothing that he knew some of his girls had. If there was one thing Harry didn't mess with other than love it was women's fashion.

He'd already broken his own rules on death and time so he planned to try and remain faithful to his last remaining rule.

As the girls moved off giggling, Harry cast a sobering charm at them combined with a cheering charm. He wanted Clark to meet new people but he also knew that Clark would burst a blood vessel in embarrassment. Especially as the girls would be all over the handsome small-town-boy.

"Let me know how much we owe you." Bruce said gratefully.

"Nonsense, it's small thing really in the grand scheme of things." Harry said dismissively as he took a seat and gestured for Bruce to do likewise.

"It's good to see you again Mr. Wayne." Clark said respectfully.

"I like your manners Clark, but please just call me Bruce and try and relax. Those are nice girls and I promise they wont bite." Bruce smiled as he shook Clark's hand.

"Tell me, has anything developed on that side project Lex had going?" Bruce asked Harry with a grin and subtle glance at Clark.

Harry frowned in confusion.

"A certain brunette." Bruce prompted.

"Oh! Yes. Mission accomplished." Harry laughed as he finally caught on. "Lana dumped Whitney after he pulled one too many bone-headed moves and eventually took it into her own hands to ask out Clark."

"Really? I do like a woman who can actually make her own decisions." Bruce smiled.

"Lana was pretty much goaded on by her and Clark's friend Chloe, who seemed ready to stand up preach on women's rights when we started teasing Clark and Lana about this."

"So, Bruce, how is your company?" Clark asked quickly.

Harry and Bruce stared at Clark for a full five seconds before they looked to each other burst out laughing. "God, Clark! That was the worst subject change I have ever heard!" Harry gasped. "You might as well have asked him what colour his socks were."

"I think we can grant him this one small concession and change the subject though." Bruce smirked. "The company is in the middle of huge restructuring at the moment. It might be worthwhile for you to keep track of the news on Wayne Industries as it will help you learn about business in general. If I remember correctly your parents own a farm?"

Clark nodded.

"Your dad and mom will have a decent grasp of business for when they buy and sell their product. They have to keep track of the stock markets to make sure they are growing and selling the right product to the right people at the right time."

"Amara actually knows the most about it, she can help you grasp the finer points of business and follow the news regarding Wayne Industries." Harry added. "Ah! Bruce, your lovely ladies are back and they look ravishing." Harry said dashingly as he stood, as a gentleman should.

Seeing Bruce also stand Clark stood as well.

"Ladies, allow me to introduce Dr. Harry Potter and Mr. Clark Kent. Gentlemen, this is Lucinda and Emily." Bruce introduced the brunette and blonde respectively.

The two ladies turned out to be reasonable conversationalists but it was clear they were about as smart as Felice Chandler. There were a few moments when Harry could see Bruce grimace slightly in embarrassment, but the man was an excellent actor.

* * *

Eventually the meal came to an end and they finished the evening with Bruce taking his lady friends home and making sure to get Harry's contact information whilst he was in Gotham. Harry and Clark returned to their penthouse.

"Come on Clark, time to start lurking." Harry said as he opened the doors to the balcony.

After all this time, Clark no longer had a problem with heights. He could happily jump from this height of around fifty storeys and not worry at all.

Fortunately Harry would be flying them so he didn't have to worry about the landing, he had gotten better as he didn't leave a dent anymore. He could control his descent now to the point that he could change directions.

"Where are we going?" Clark asked as Harry floated them both into the air.

"Arkham Asylum. One of the major criminals got himself declared mentally unfit and transferred there after the Batman caught him. I want to take a look at his memories and see if I can get an image of the Batman." Harry answered as they began travelling at over a hundred miles per hour.

"If he's mentally unfit, how will you be sure he didn't see hallucinations?"

They came in sight of the Asylum and Harry teleported them the rest of the way.

"I think he's faking it and he probably has a man on the inside. We will try and help out a bit and see if we can't expose who it is." Harry said as they began walking up to the gates.

"Do we have an appointment?" Clark asked as they stood behind a young brunette woman with a briefcase.

"Of course! I called in and cleared it with the local DA."

"Excuse me, are you Doctor Potter?" The woman asked as she consulted a notebook she held.

"I am. This is my assistant Clark Kent." Harry smiled as he held out his hand.

The woman smiled. "Rachel Dawes, ADA. I was happy to hear about your request. I'm hoping you will be able to prove Falcone is faking."

"Well, I will only be able to confirm the truth." Harry said warningly. "But I have my doubts as well."

"Miss Dawes, have you heard anything about this Batman?" Clark asked.

"A few things, but I'm afraid the details are confidential at the moment." Dawes informed him.

"I understand, but I believe the reports say that Mr. Falcone was captured by Batman, it would be useful to know as much as we could so we could make a better determination regarding Mr. Falcone's responses."

Harry was absolutely thrilled at Clark's reasoning. He had come a long way from the shy farm boy; he was now confidently conversing with powerful people. His reasoning alone made Harry very proud of his protégé.

"Clark is quite correct. Without a full background we will be forced to work on assumptions that are only half confirmed. If you have more information, then our own evaluation will be a lot more solid, we will be able to provide you with strong reasoning which will be crucial in any legal manoeuvres you wish to make."

Rachel Dawes scowled. They were right of course and they made the argument that mattered the most to her. That their findings would hold more water in court if they could make sound and reasoned findings.

"We know very little about the man behind the mask. I have seen him personally though. He wears a masked cowl with points like a bat; he also has a cape that seems to allow him to fly. He speaks with a very deep gravelly voice and prefers to stick to just the facts, he doesn't like engaging in small talk.

"He also managed to hold up a police sergeant with a stapler."

"He attacked the police?" Clark asked.

"No, he merely used the possible threat of a gun to keep the sergeant cooperative whilst he spoke with him. Other than myself and the sergeant I don't know if he has had any contact with other officials."

"Miss Dawes, Doctor Potter, you and your parties are cleared for entry. Doctor Crane will meet you at the entrance." The guard informed them.

The trio began the walk through the dark and dismal grounds. Arkham Asylum was very much in keeping with Gotham's style of dark and gothic.

"What do you know about Doctor Crane?" Miss Dawes asked as they walked.

"A rising star but very controversial in some areas." Harry summarised the research he had done.

"The DA's office also suspects he's on the take. We do not trust him but we have no proof." She lowered her voice as they saw the Doctor in question standing in the entrance way ahead.

"Doctor Potter, a pleasure to meet you." Jonathan Crane greeted Harry with a smile. "Miss Dawes." There was some definite strain in the greeting she received.

"This is my assistant Clark Kent. Perhaps we should get started?" Harry said brusquely.

Clark was a little surprised as Harry was usually congenial with everyone. He was nearly rude though when it came to Doctor Crane.

Doctor Crane led them through the Asylum and various checkpoints. At each point they were so thoroughly searched that at one point Harry had thrown a guard up against the wall for the way he had been handling Miss Dawes. The guards had made to move on Harry but Clark had simply picked up one of the other guards and held him a foot off the ground with one hand.

"I want this man out of this Asylum now." Harry snapped. "If he does that to Miss Dawes, a visitor, then what does he get up to with the female inmates?"

"You! Call the police and have him arrested." Doctor Crane ordered. "I do apologise Miss Dawes, we do screen our personnel but nothing is perfect."

Rachel was a frequent visitor to the asylum and prisons so she was used to the rough handling and occasional groping. She hadn't had anyone defend her before though.

"Let's just get on with this." She snapped.

Clark dropped the guard with a thud.

"You are quite strong, Mr. Kent." Doctor Crane commented.

"I live on a farm. I spend my evenings bailing hay and my free time as the school quarterback." Clark said blandly. It was a reasonable excuse and one that they had all cultivated to try and protect Clark from unwanted scrutiny.

"Well, here we are. As you can see, Mr. Falcone is quite incomprehensible."

Through the viewing window they could see that the man was drooling and babbling incoherently.

"I will need to interview him." Harry said.

"He really isn't in the right state of mind for an interview, Doctor."

"I will just have to see for myself, won't I?" Harry said with a raised eyebrow. "Clark, stay close to Miss Dawes and ensure her safety."

"Yes sir." Clark said respectfully as he took a step back so he was slightly behind the ADA.

"I really reco-"

"I'll be out shortly." Harry said firmly as he opened the door and stepped in.

"Doctor Potter can take care of himself." Clark said reassuringly.

They watched as Harry walked up to the table and stood there staring at Falcone as though examining him. After a few seconds Harry leaned in and forced the man to be still with one hand whilst he opened Falcone's eye with the other.

"FALCONE!"

All three jumped as Harry roared at the man.

"Is that standard procedure for snapping a man out of… whatever you claim he has?" Dawes asked snidely.

"I believe he was merely trying to elicit a response of familiarity. To see if the subject has any self awareness left." Crane said coldly.

Clark could just feel the love. "Looks like he got quite a good response." He noted.

Harry had sat down opposite Falcone and was currently engaging the man in a conversation. Falcone appeared nervous but far from the incomprehensible mess he had been only seconds earlier.

"I believe Doctor Potter has successfully proven that Mr. Falcone is not mentally incapable." Dawes said smugly.

"For the moment." Crane allowed. "But madness can come and go. Perhaps it would be beneficial for you to see examples in some of our other patients." He suggested as he indicated they should follow him.

"We should wait for Doctor Potter." Clark said firmly as he placed a hand on Miss Dawes' shoulder.

"Hmm." Crane hummed thoughtfully. "I can probably handle the farm boy and the bitch easily enough, but a third would be problematic."

Dawes was outraged. "What did you-"

She was cut off as Crane raised a hand and sprayed both her and Clark with an aerosol of some kind.

* * *

Inside the interview room Harry was continuing his discussion with Falcone.

"I'm sure you can understand why it would be beneficial for you to strike a deal with the DA's office." He explained his position to Falcone. "If you stay here then you will likely be dosed with whatever it was that sent you insane before. Forever trapped in your nightmares."

"I could just get myself a good lawyer." Falcone countered, he clearly wasn't very confident in this idea though.

"Miss Dawes is desperate to get you in a court, that suggests to me that she has her case already in the bag. You are free to-"

***BANG***

There was a large hole that could be seen in the corridor wall that led outside the Asylum.

"I'm afraid I have to go, do stay put." Harry advised as he sent a stunner under the table causing Falcone to slam his head on the tabletop.

Harry quickly headed into the corridor to find Clark and Crane missing, Rachel Dawes on the floor having some sort of seizure and a Clark shaped whole in the wall.

Ok, so it was simply a large hole, but very few people could make it and Clark was at the top of his list.

A quick examination of Rachel and Harry knew what the problem was. She had been dosed with whatever Falcone had been given.

"I can save her." Came a deep gravelly voice.

Harry looked up and saw, to his surprise, the Batman. Very few people could sneak up on him but this man had succeeded.

"So can I." Harry said as he placed a hand on her chest and cleansed her of the toxins. "Unfortunately I have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Can you see she gets home safely?"

"What did you do to her?"

"I healed her. The toxin has been removed and she will wake up fully refreshed, she might need an explanation though. You take care of her and whilst I try and find Clark. I'll catch up with you later."

Harry teleported away leaving a very disconcerted Batman behind. Resolving to examine the situation later he picked Rachel up and headed out the large hole in the wall.

* * *

Harry teleported straight to Clark only for Clark to not be there. So he tried again. This time he found himself standing on the ocean, he wasn't quick enough to realise this before he fell _into_ the ocean.

He did this three times, arriving in Japan, Russia and India before he realised that Clark was simply running as fast as he could from whatever was scaring him.

He made a quick trip back to the castle to pick up some Kryptonite before he tried again.

Clark was travelling at hundreds of miles per hour. That was not a speed that you could come to a complete and utter stop from. The Kryptonite Harry stuffed down his shirt didn't slow him down, but it did cause him to trip and go tumbling for well over two miles before he came to stop. Clark was bleeding with multiple broken bones.

Harry teleported to his new location and immediately put the boy into a magically induced coma. The toxin was fairly easy to locate so he had that dealt with quickly. He then fixed the physical injuries before sending the Kryptonite back to the castle. Lastly he grabbed Clark and teleported them back to their hotel room.

"Wakey-wakey!" Harry smiled as he slapped Clark's face. He always found this method of waking people amusing.

Although there was one time when he had tried it with the Hulk. He made it three thousand miles off planet before he managed to teleport back.

"One of these days Harry." Clark groaned as he sat up.

"How much do you remember?" Harry asked as he sat in the armchair opposite the sofa he had placed Clark on.

"You were talking to Falcone, Doctor Crane was explaining… something… then nothing."

"You were dosed with a fear inducing toxin." Harry explained. "You went off running and made it half way round the world before I managed to catch you."

"What about Miss Dawes?"

"She was dosed as well. I fixed her up and handed her over to the Batman." Harry grinned.

Clark sat up, now fully alert. "You met him?"

"So did you. You just never realised it."

* * *

Clark looked up at the large manor in front of them. It was quite beautiful, it still held slight hints of gothic architecture, but it was pleasant to the eye.

"Bruce Wayne is Batman. I suppose that he can at least afford it." Clark mused as they walked up to the front door.

"I think a lot of what we know about Bruce Wayne is a front. He was never really into the fun of playing with the girls the other night. He tried to make them happy but he preferred the discussion he had with us." Harry explained as they waited for someone to answer the door.

The older gentlemen who answered the door seemed surprised to see them. It was eight in the morning and they had bypassed the gate after all.

"Can I help you gentlemen?"

"A Brit! A slice of home!" Harry smiled happily as he grabbed Alfred's hand and pumped it enthusiastically.

"Please excuse, Doctor Potter." Clark said as he pulled Harry off the startled man. "We were hoping we could speak to Mr. Wayne."

"Master Wayne is currently unavailable." Alfred said firmly.

"Probably sleeping off last nights adventure." Harry muttered. "It's urgent… ish. He'll be wide-awake and fully refreshed by the time we are finished. "It's about his nocturnal activities involving bats."

Alfred's face went stony.

"We aren't a threat. He met me at Arkham Asylum last night and I told him I would catch up with him. I trust Miss Dawes is safe?"

"Please wait here whilst I see if the Master is available." Alfred said as he shut the door firmly.

"Is he going to call the police?" Clark asked worriedly.

Harry took a few steps back and began examine the various windows. "Aha! There he is." He floated Clark and himself up to one of the top windows.

"You hate knocking don't you?" Clark grumbled.

"I always knock… when there is no fun to be had."

Clark just sighed and followed Harry through the glass doors of the balcony.

They arrived just as Alfred entered the room. Alfred saw them as a threat to Master Bruce and moved into a defensive position from his days in the SAS.

"Relax, we just travelled up three storeys and through several objects, if we wanted to hurt you we would have done it by now." Harry said dismissively.

"Bru-" Harry's hand was caught inches away from Bruce's face by Clark.

"Let me do this. He probably had enough stress last night without having to put up with you slapping him awake." Clark said dryly.

"Mr. Wayne it's-"

"I'm already awake Clark, and it's Bruce." The formerly sleeping man sighed as he sat up. "Let's start with the two most important questions. Why are you here and how are you in my bedroom considering you didn't use the door?" He said as he stood and grabbed a dressing robe as he was only dressed in sleep pants.

"I told you last night I would catch up with you. And we used magic to fly up and phase through the balcony door." Harry explained.

Bruce frowned. "I'm going to ignore the part about magic for now. You didn't say anything about needing to see me at dinner."

"At the Asylum, when I left Miss Dawes in your capable hands." Harry explained.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I came home and went straight to bed after dropping the girls off. I have no need or desire to go anywhere near Arkham." He said with a slight shudder.

"Clark, take a look around and tell me if you can see his work room or shop. Look for his costume." Harry instructed.

Clark began searching the house with his x-ray vision.

"Harry, you seem like a decent person but you are pushing the boundaries of common decency and the law." Bruce scowled. "I can't simply allow Clark to go running around the Manor-"

"Found it." Clark said suddenly. "It's actually under the house foundations in a cave. About 100 metres that way." He said as he pointed at the floor in front of him.

Harry looked at Bruce and Alfred. "Brace yourselves and try not panic. You aren't in any danger."

Both men stumbled as they suddenly seemed to fall into the floor. They watched in shock and awe as they passed through the floors and ceilings and the various rooms before they were blinded by the solid rock of the foundations. They soon passed through as they landed in the cave where Bruce stored his bat gear.

When they eventually landed Bruce and Alfred quickly picked themselves off the floor.

"Who are you?" Bruce demanded.

"Death." Harry retorted quickly. "I am literally Death. I can control who lives and who dies, I don't usually interfere with the lives of the average person; I tend to focus on those who try and cheat death or inflict it on others. Murderers, terrorists and the like."

"Are you insane?"

"Clark, would you rip my head off please?" Harry sighed.

"What? No! You want someone to do that then get Laura or Brunhilde to do it." Clark said in disgust. He pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial. "Hello, Coach? Yeah, it's Clark. Listen, Harry wants to prove he is Death to Batman, who is also Bruce Wayne."

"…"

"I am standing in his hideout with them now."

"…"

"He's already shown him flight and phasing but he wants to prove he is Death and I am not ripping his head off with my bare hands."

"…"

"I don't care if it barely hurts him! I refuse to do something like that, you seem comfortable with the idea so you do it."

"…"

"Pick who you want, do it yourself for all I care, as long as it's not me."

Clark hung up his phone and turned to find an amused Harry staring at him with a fairly concerned Alfred and Bruce.

"Coach is on his way or sending someone."

"Probably has to put some clothes on." Harry grinned. "Jean and Emma like to lounge around in their birthday suits and they make sure Scott does the same."

"I've never seen them do that."

"They couldn't really do it with your family visiting all the time, could they."

Bruce was carefully taking mental notes as the two talked, making a list of names and information.

He was startled when a man he vaguely recalled from the Metropolis Museum appeared out of thin air. "Good morning Mr. Wayne." He said politely.

He then walked over to Harry. He seemed to examine Harry and then the rock wall the other side of Harry. That was when the beams of light shot out of his eyes and sliced through Harry's neck.

"Scott, you need to grab my head before it heals." Harry sighed, appearing none the worse for being decapitated.

Bruce could tell it had gone through due to the smell of burning flesh and the seared gash in the rock wall.

"This is why I wanted Clark to pull it off."

"You can't keep trying to force Clark to do these things, he'll learn in time to put aside his worries." Scott admonished. "Now hold still whilst I vaporise your head."

"Oh, good idea." Harry said with glee.

There was no pause as a second beam of light erupted from Scott's eyes, this one spread out to engulf Harry's head and actually caused a small vibration in the stone floor.

When it ended, Harry's headless body just stood there.

"You might want to come in closer and see this." Scott said to the stunned and horrified Bruce and Alfred. "You can see the healing process at a highly enhanced rate."

They couldn't help themselves as they woodenly shuffled over to watch as Harry's head re-grew from the neck up.

"So, are we convinced I am Death yet?"

Both men jumped as Harry's ethereal form appeared next to his body.

"You can heal at an extreme rate and astral project." Bruce frowned. "I've seen it before."

"You have?" Harry asked in surprise.

Bruce nodded. "Whilst I was travelling the world I met many strange and interesting people."

"Have you spoken to people who have already died or travelled time?" Clark asked.

"I've seen people pretend to channel ghosts and spirits, but I've never seen anyone try to travel through time." A wry smile appeared on his face. "There was an incident with narcotics where time seem to speed up and slow down."

"Take him to see the Dinosaurs to prove your magic and… call in a ghost." Clark shrugged.

"We don't have time to take him through time. We could be gone as much as a day." Harry frowned as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Harry closed his eyes and focused.

Scott was familiar with this expression of Harry's and knew that he was calling one of his deceased family members.

"Husband." Came the pleasant female voice.

Harry opened his eyes and standing before him was the spirit of Daphne Potter, formally Greengrass. "Hey there Beautiful." He greeted as he stepped forward and hugged her ethereal form.

"Daphne, I'd like you to meet Bruce and Alfred. They need proof that I am Death." He said as he kept an arm around Daphne's waist.

"You want me to track down someone for him?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"His parents, if you could."

"No!"

They turned to see an angry Bruce glaring at them.

"I don't want you playing with the memories of my parents." He scowled.

"Not their memories, Bruce. Their souls. This is my late wife. I often call them forth just to catch up. It's an ability of mine as Death. An aspect of existence."

"Give me his soul, honey." Daphne said as she kissed Harry's cheek. "You have enough brownie points built up on the other side as Xander puts it that I can take him for a short tour of the other side and then bring him back."

"Can you take them both, Daphne?" Scott asked.

"Hello Scott, and you must be Clark, I'm sure we'll have a chance to talk another time." She smiled at the tall farm boy. "Why both, Scott?"

"Mr. Wayne is very sceptical. If you only take him then he will assume it was an induced hallucination. Take them both and they can compare notes."

"Plenty of favours left in the pot for that." She said dismissively. She turned back to Harry who still had his arm around her. "Give them both to me. I'll take them for a few hours."

Harry nodded and off two green coloured spells that caused the bodies to drop to the floor dead. "Have fun!" He grinned at the ethereal spirits only he and Daphne could currently see.

"He really has a problem asking permission, doesn't he?" Clark commented quietly to Scott.

"In a few thousand years he might improve, he just hates having to explain and prove who he is. Once his face is all over the television then he'll calm down a bit." Scott explained.

"Is that why he had me eaten by a dinosaur?" Clark asked with a grimace as he picked up Alfred's insensate form.

Scott smiled widely. "No, I believe that was just a bonus."


	16. Chapter 16

Bruce woke up groggily, the most unusual dream of Harry Potter claiming to be Death played through his mind.

He sat up and saw that he was in his bed, just as he remembered climbing into it after dropping Rachel off home and leaving her with the vials of antidote and instructions to give it to Sergeant Gordon.

Then he noticed the second body in his bed.

It was substantially older than he was used to and completely the wrong gender.

Fortunately the sleeping body of Alfred Pennyworth was still clothed.

"I swear I tried to get him to put you in separate beds."

Bruce jumped out of bed at the sound of another person in his bedroom.

He was… nonplussed… to see Harry, Clark _and_ his parent's ethereal forms standing by the door.

"It wasn't a dream?" He asked. "I didn't relapse from the toxin?"

"Nope, you are completely sane and healthy." Harry said.

"Unfortunately the same can't be said for Harry." Clark sighed.

* * *

The group found themselves downstairs indulging in a large breakfast conjured by Harry as they discussed the ramifications of Harry's revelations and Alfred and Bruce's trip to the other side. His parents soon departed as the strain began to show, but they left with assuring that they were proud and pleased with both men.

"Are you one of the homo-magi?" Bruce asked suddenly.

"Erm… I haven't heard that term in a long while. Where did you hear it?" Harry asked curiously.

"In my travels, I met a man, Giovanni Zatara, also known as John. He trained me in the art of escape. He could do magic, but he used spells for the most part, incantations. Apparently they are a subset of humans who have hidden themselves."

"Interesting. A complete race of magicals native to this universe." Harry mused.

"But you had them in Scott's world." Clark pointed out.

"We had people who trained and had a talent they nurtured, but not a race of wizards and witches. I created that race in Scott's world. In my home world I was born a member of the magical race of humans." Harry explained. He turned back to Bruce. "I would have to meet this Zatara or another homo-magi to be sure if I was born into the same race as them, but it wouldn't really make a difference. Being Death and the Master of Magic makes me something else, even if my body is human."

"You could end world hunger." Bruce stated.

"Eventually."

"You could prevent everyone from ever dying."

"Not with out severe drastic consequences." Harry warned. "I can stop a body from getting ill and old but the human soul can't last more than five thousand years in the mortal world before insanity sets in. I had to watch Daphne slip away from me despite the fact that she never looked older than twenty."

Bruce nodded. He knew that there had to be a catch or clause otherwise Daphne Potter would still be here.

"You could conquer the world."

"I've already started." Harry said as he fought a smirk.

Next to him Clark smacked his head on the table. Harry had to fix the crack.

"He's joking right?" Alfred asked from beside Bruce.

"He completely controls North Korea. He took me there himself." Clark admitted.

"Eventually I will be recognised as the ultimate ruler of Earth and all her people. But I will probably not be the official head very often. Scott and the girls will take a turn. Clark might, hell, Alfred might do a fine job."

"Not me?" Bruce asked.

"People like you develop too much paranoia. I had this problem back in Scott's home. Once the world is at peace and you don't need to watch your back, then you might be offered the position for a while. No one holds it for too long, two, three hundred years tops. There is too much work involved." Harry said with a dismissive wave.

"Two to three hundred years as ruler of the world?" Alfred asked with wide eyes.

"You and Bruce here will live to be at least three thousand barring accidents and foul play and me not being around to stop it. Two to three hundred years out of that is like a couple of months in the current average life time."

"What do you intend to do with us now?" Bruce asked. He kept his voice and demeanour calm, but the very question showed the tension.

"Nothing. You know me, I know you. If you run into a problem too big for you to handle then call us for help." Harry shrugged. "Look Bruce, as long as you don't go off the deep end and start hurting innocent people you won't ever have a real problem with me. Sure we will disagree on things as any two sentient beings would. But you are doing good work. I will be sending Scott back here with some of the girls to work on your equipment, try and improve it for you. Nothing big, just work out any latent bugs."

"My equipment is state of the art." Bruce frowned, he knew he wasn't being insulted but he couldn't understand what they could offer.

"Lorna still has trouble with our technology." Clark spoke up. "She explained that she is used to technology that is thousands of years more advanced than ours. You should see their training room and labs."

"Hmm, speaking of 'our technology'." Harry mused as he looked at Clark. "Mind if we ask for their help regarding your questions?"

Clark stiffened. His immediate reaction was to chastise Harry for even hinting at it in front of others. But then he remembered Laura's words and how much easier it was now that Lex, Lana and Chloe knew about what he was.

Clark just nodded. "I'm an alien. I landed on this planet years ago as a small child and was taken in and raised by my parents Martha and Jonathan. They kept my space ship and recently we found the… activation disk?"

Harry laughed. "In short we found the keys to his ship… and no, they weren't hidden down the back of the couch."

Both men couldn't help but smile despite the massive revelation that they were sitting opposite an extra-terrestrial.

Clark continued. "When we activated the ship it spoke to us, some sort of artificial intelligence. It let a few things out like the name Krypton which is the name of my planet and that my birth name is Kal-El."

There was a short moments silence.

"What sort of help were you looking for?" Bruce asked eventually.

"Anything really, I guess." Clark admitted. "I really don't like what the ship was saying, trying to get me to leave my parents."

"Nothing too big, just keep an ear open in case you happen to hear anything about aliens or the words Kal-El and Krypton. Or Smallville even." Harry added.

"I can do that." Bruce nodded. "It will be hard to sift through the hoaxes but not impossible. I can tell you I have heard of certain legends, some thing about a Traveller and The King of Terror. The Traveller comes up around the world from Europe to Asia, but The King of Terror is unique to Japan."

"What makes them stand out from things like Roswell and other UFO sightings?" Clark asked curiously.

"The amount of secrecy surrounding them, there is a cult or group called Veritas I have heard of that focuses on The Traveller but there is a fair amount of government interest in The King of Terror."

"Hmm, I have someone in Japan, he could use a hobby so I will have him look into The King of Terror. The rest of us can focus on Europe and The Traveller. The King of Terror was actually foretold of by Nostradamus."

"Thank you." Clark said sincerely to Bruce.

"Anytime. I'll keep my ear to the ground."

"Right, I have two more things to do in this city, our main objective was to meet the Batman. Mission Accomplished!" Harry declared. "First I will magic up Alfred here and then I will see if I can't grab that idiot, Crane."

"'Magic up'?" Alfred asked.

"Yes, I am going to make you into a magical. In fact, I will bring in Jonathan I think to help you train."

"Why me and not Master Bruce? Logic would indicate that he has a greater and more noble need for it." Alfred noted.

"Yes, but Bruce would only use it for fighting crime. Now that isn't a bad thing as most of my girls and Scott only used it for that initially, but they were living in the equivalent of a war. No, you need magic first. You will use magic for what it is meant to be used for. Aiding in your day-to-day tasks like cleaning, cooking, running errands, etc. Eventually, say in a years time, Bruce will get used to seeing you do these little things and when I magic him up he won't run off and start capturing every crook he ever met."

"You're worried that Master Bruce will use the ability to use magic as an excuse to focus more and more on crime fighting instead of living." Alfred nodded with acceptance.

Bruce looked affronted.

"It's in your nature." Harry shrugged. "Also, you need to be careful as you are a public figure, if someone found out you had these abilities you would be at risk of constant kidnapping. Lex doesn't have magic yet because of that fact. He gets captured enough as it is, worse than Lana and Chloe if you ask me."

"Lex doesn't get captured that much, he does find himself in trouble a fair amount though." Clark defended his friend.

"Harry, you called?" Jonathan asked as he suddenly appeared. He noticed the shocked looks on Bruce and Alfred's faces. "I just teleported into your home, didn't I Mr. Wayne." He sighed. "I apologise, Harry doesn't believe in manners at times."

"We are gaining an increasing familiarity with the concept, Mr. Kent." Bruce mused dryly.

"Why am I here and invading Mr. Wayne's home? Where you at least invited?"

Clark just laughed.

"That answers that one." Jonathan muttered.

"I'm about to give Alfred here magic, he needs a tutor and I decided it was your turn." Harry informed him.

"And did you check to see if he was free today?" Jonathan asked.

"No, but it won't take more than an hour."

"I do have to prepare for Master Bruce's birthday party tonight. Your invitations should have been delivered to your hotel this morning." Alfred explained.

"Actually, teaching you whilst preparing your party will be better, practical application is something a soldier can appreciate." Harry nodded.

"How did you know I served?" Alfred asked suspiciously.

"I served in most branches of the military, especially the British Military. I recognised your stances. SAS?"

Alfred just nodded.

"Let's get you glowing!" Harry grinned.

* * *

Alfred had insisted that Mr. and Mrs. Kent be invited to the party along with the rest of Harry's family.

The girls were always the focus of much attention with their exceptional good looks, but Lorna as always, stood out amongst the elite of Gotham with her green hair. Occasionally she would charm it a more natural colour when she wanted to be inconspicuous, but it was as much a part of Lorna Dane as was magic and her mutant ability to manipulate magnetic fields.

Clark found he was also the recipient of many envious or disapproving looks as with Lana absent the Cuckoos had latched onto him in their usual manner. They were dressed in attire of differing styles but exactly the same colour, white.

Lorna was latched onto Harry's arm this evening as Amara accompanied Bruce. Amara was much more comfortable in a board room or court room, her up bringing having given her insights and appreciation of ruling long before she took her turn at governing Earth under Harry's rule back home.

Bruce eventually found himself moving back to Harry and Lorna. Harry was deep in conversation with a tall man who had his back to him.

"Bruce!" Harry gestured to the man to join them. "I was just talking to this interesting man who says he knows you from your travels. He says he is one of your tutors. He has some… interesting ideas on society at large." Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

Bruce's brain immediately put the name to the face and all the pieces of the puzzle fell together for him. Crane and the mysterious plant that he had experience with and now the man who called himself 'Ducard' who trained him with it standing in his home.

"Ra's." Bruce said with a dark smile. "I saved your life." He reminded him.

"I warned you about compassion, Bruce."

"To true. You shouldn't waste compassion on those who don't deserve it." Harry nodded sagely.

"Compassion is weakness, an opening for your enemies to strike." The newly revealed Ra's countered.

"It's also the first step to building true alliances."

"Harry-" Bruce began warningly.

"Don't worry Bruce, the guests are leaving now." Harry assured him as Jean and Emma telepathically nudged the high society club of Gotham.

Ra's frowned. He hadn't heard any orders given, no one was panicking.

"Not so much fun when you have to deal with someone more powerful than you, is it?" Harry smirked. "What's it been, some three hundred years since you met someone who could best you?"

Ra's was scowling now. "Cheap parlour tricks."

"If that's what you want to believe. The only thing I will promise you is that I will treat you as you wish to treat others. I will destroy you completely. You cheated death this far and I have no problem with people living a long life, but I cannot abide those who hurt others for their own personal gain. You aren't worthy of immortality!" Harry spat angrily.

"Who are you to decide that?" Ra's demanded.

"I. AM. DEATH!" Harry roared as he transformed into his dragon form causing the interior of the Stately Wayne Manor Ball Room to magically expand to accommodate his excessively large form.

Lorna grabbed Bruce and teleported back a short distance. "Ah crap. Harry is really pissed."

"This is pissed?" Bruce asked worriedly.

"Usually he is methodical about how he deals with these idiots." Laura explained as she teleported next to them with Alfred. "He doesn't usually go in for these theatrics. When he let's out his dragon form like this it means he is angry. Very angry."

"He also gets sloppy." Scott grimaced as he approached them. "His rage clouds his mind and he let's the minion types escape. You remember the mess he caused when he got pissed with Hades. Hela had to take over in his absence."

"And we had to round up all the escaped prisoners of Hades realm." Emma sighed.

"He seems to be quite effective at the moment." Alfred said with a wince as the dragon chewed up another of the minions.

"Ra's escaped though." Bruce pointed out.

"Exactly." Jean sighed. "Girls, see if you can calm him down." She instructed the Cuckoos who immediately transformed into a single Phoenix and flew to the rampaging dragon to try and calm him down.

"Alfred, take Bruce to his gear. Teleportation will be quicker." Scott ordered. "The rest of us will suit up and track down the escaping idiots and Ra's."

"Clark, come with me, you need a costume if you are going to be out in public. And a code name." Laura said as she grabbed his hand and vanished.

"Aw, I wanted to be the first one to play dress-up with him." Dani pouted before being dragged off by Amara.

* * *

Laura and Clark arrived at the castle where Laura transfigured her evening gown into her standard black fighting attire. "Now Clark, we've been discussing your costume for a while. A costume is many things, but to the people it is an expression of what you stand for. My costume is designed for stealth and fighting where as Emma's costume is about standing out and taking command. Scott is more about being a symbol for others, a symbol of hope.

"We believe you should be a symbol for hope as well." Laura lectured. "We've known you for a while now and seen you help others. We discussed you with your friends and family and they also agree that you are a symbol of hope. So, this is what we had planned for you."

She waved her hand at Clark transfiguring his tuxedo and turning him to face the dress mirror.

Clark saw himself wearing blue heavy jeans with a tight blue long sleeved t-shirt, across his shoulders was a red cape that flowed down towards the backs of his knees. His boots were heavy-duty work boots in red; the only deviation was a yellow belt.

"A cape?" He asked with a wrinkled nose.

Laura smiled. "It's a symbol of protection and power, we also made sure that it can deflect everything from bullets to spells so you can use it to protect others."

"I will definitely stand out in a crowd." He sighed.

"That's the point Clark, a symbol of hope that isn't seen isn't very good. When people see you they will know that you have come to help and that will give them the strength to hold on a little longer."

"Ok." He agreed reluctantly. He had spent most of his life hiding who he was. But Harry and his family hadn't led him wrong so far. "You said something about a code name?"

Laura giggled momentarily. "Chloe initially wanted to call you 'Superboy', as everything you do is super, super speed, super strength, etc. But Lana suggested 'Superman' after Nietzsche's Superman.

"Harry also warned against 'Superboy' as once you are labelled with a diminutive like 'boy' it is hard to get people to take you seriously."

"Won't people think I have a huge ego?"

"Let them think what they want." She said firmly. "What you say and do is far more important than what you call yourself."

"Don't I need a mask?" He asked, thinking of Bruce and his cowl.

"No, we placed a charm on you. No one will be able to connect Superman to Clark Kent unless you specifically tell them. Even if they hear about your adventures and know about your powers they won't know it is you."

"Ok… I suppose we better get started then." Clark sighed with great reluctance.

* * *

Whilst Batman was chasing down Ra's Al Ghul, Scott, Jean and Emma were with Sergeant Gordon informing him of the situation.

All hell had broken loose in the slums known as The Narrows. Crane had released his fear toxin into the air and the population was in chaos as they ran from phantoms and terrors. It didn't help that Crane had released the prisoners from Arkham as this increased the fears and the dangers.

Harry was currently tracking down the maniac and found him riding a horse with a sack over his head and calling himself The Scarecrow.

"You are in so much trouble." Harry snarled as he grabbed the idiot off the horse. Harry was invisible as he didn't want to scare any of the civilians, he couldn't heal them properly at the moment as they were being constantly exposed to the toxin in the air.

"Put me down!" Crane screamed.

Harry ignored him as he teleported to Scott.

"Found the jerk. He is definitely insane." Harry said as he became visible.

"Taste fear!" The Scarecrow yelled as he sprayed Harry with his gas.

"Tastes terrible." Harry mused.

"Why aren't you afraid?" The Scarecrow asked worriedly.

"Kid, I've seen things that would literally scare you to death. Now shut up and go to sleep." Harry said as he punched the man in the face, his hand charged with a stunner.

"Sergeant Gordon, meet Death. Death, Sergeant Gordon." Cyclops sighed.

"The Batman speaks very highly of you." Harry said as he held out his hand.

Gordon numbly took it. "Does that name have any significance? Cyclops, The White Queen and The Phoenix… you are definitely a colourful bunch." He said weakly.

"Their names are codenames." Harry explained. "They need them to protect their private lives. Mine is not so much a codename as it is a description of what I am. The embodiment of Death."

"You're saying that you are Death?" He asked doubtfully. "A little young, aren't you?"

"Only in looks. I've been around for a _very_ long time." Harry smiled.

Gordon shook his head in mild frustration. These costumed heroes weren't breaking the law, they were helping. As long as they didn't cause him problems they could call themselves whatever they wanted to.

At that moment Batman swooped in. "I've tracked Ra's, he's on the train headed for Wayne Tower. "I can get on board but someone needs to make sure that the train doesn't make it to Wayne Towers. He has a microwave emitter that is causing the water to evaporate and the toxin to become airborne. Wayne Towers houses the main water plant for the city."

"I think we can handle that." Cyclops nodded.

"Here, take my car." Batman said as he threw his keys to Cyclops before shooting off a grappling hook.

"I think I'll give him a hand." Harry said as he took off flying and intercepting Batman and carrying him the rest of the way.

"I'll come with you." Gordon informed Cyclops as the other man began to turn.

Cyclops stopped and smiled at the officer. "You take the car, we don't actually need transportation." He said as he tossed the keys over and took off into the air just as Harry had.

* * *

Whilst Harry, Batman, Cyclops, Jean and Emma dealt with Ra's, the train and The Scarecrow, Clark and the others were doing damage control in The Narrows.

The triplets had shifted to their phoenix form and where flying over the crowds calming them with their song. Amara walked through the streets as a being of pure fire keeping the escaped Arkham convicts from getting close to the innocent civilians.

Clark quickly sped around collecting the inmates and bringing them back to Lorna who, using her mutant powers, extracted metal from the area and turned it into restraints for them. Clark also collected the weapons from civilian, criminal and policeman alike as none of them were of the right mind to handle firearms whilst facing their deepest fears.

Eventually Clark took to the rooftops where he had a better view. He was shocked to find a familiar face.

"Miss Dawes?" He asked in surprise.

"Who are you?" She demanded as she pointed the gun at him.

Clark quickly zipped in and grabbed the gun before she could blink. He realised that his identity was protected so he was just another face in the crowd.

"I'm here to help. You've been infected by a toxin that induces fear."

"No, I'm inoculated. Bru- The Batman gave me the antidote earlier. He also dropped us here for safety." She explained; she was completely awed by how fast he moved. "But this boy, he's infected, he could die." She said as she hugged the blonde haired boy to her.

"My friends down below can cure him. I'll take you to them, you'll be safer with them." He said as he offered his hand.

"Are you an angel?" The boy asked fearfully?

"I'm just a friend who can make the bad people go away." He said softly as he knelt in front of the boy. It was clear to Clark that the boy was terrified of him and everything else, but like he had with Miss Dawes, the boy had found him as another thing to latch onto.

Clark picked the boy up in one arm and hauled Rachel Dawes to her feet, pulling her to the edge of the five-storey apartment complex.

"How are we going to get down?" Rachel asked.

"Jump."

"The fall will kill us!"

"Actually the landing will kill you… but I'll make sure you land safely." Clark said with a wry smile.

Rachel screamed as the blue and red clad man grabbed her around the waist and jumped with her and the boy off the ledge.

Clark could see the world moving in slow motion as they fell, he saw the windows moving slower and slower as they approached the ground floor.

Suddenly, it all fell into place for Clark. He could feel the air around him; he could feel gravity. He knew that he could not only leap into the atmosphere but that he could control his descent. He knew he could save the woman and child in his arms from the unnecessary jolt as they landed and his own knees absorbed the deadly impact.

"We stopped!"

Clark looked at Miss Dawes curiously.

"We're floating." She explained as she pointed down with a free hand, the other clinging to his neck.

Clark looked down and smiled. Sure enough they were still six feet of the ground.

Clark Kent could fly.

He focused his will and headed for the glow in the distance as he rose up a few more feet to fly over the heads of the crowds.

Rachel was even more awed when she saw that the glow they were approaching was actually a person made of fire and that another woman seemed to manipulate metal without touching it.

"Polaris, this woman is ADA Dawes, she was inoculated by the Batman. The boy needs healing though." Clark called out.

Rachel watched as the green haired woman approached them and laid a calming hand on the boy causing him to fall asleep.

"I see you learnt to fly, Superman." She said with a pleased smile. "Lord Death will be pleased. Your training will have to be altered."

Rachel paled. They worked for someone named Death. It was bad enough that Crane was riding around with a mask and calling himself 'Scarecrow', but now there was someone calling himself 'Lord Death'. Gotham wouldn't survive the night.

"Relax Miss Dawes." The woman named Polaris said calmingly. "Lord Death has no designs on the souls of this city unless they are guilty of the most heinous of crimes."

"Who calls themselves 'Lord Death'?" Rachel demanded in disgust.

"He calls himself 'Death'. But the higher powers of the universe respect him so much that he is elevated in their esteem, so they call him 'Lord'." Polaris explained.

A fiery white and red bird that split and shifted to form three identical young teenage girls suddenly joined them.

"There is too much chaos for us to be effective, Polaris." One of them stated.

"We will need to have our Lord take more direct action so that we can save the innocent." Another said.

"This place is lost. All we can do is evacuate the innocent." The last of the girls said.

Polaris sighed. Even back home an incident of this nature would stretch their abilities. Here in this world, where they were constrained by secrecy they were severely crippled.

"So be it. We will withdraw from The Narrows and allow Lord Death to bring peace here before we try and save the innocent."

"Wait… what are you talking about?" Rachel asked worriedly. There was very little chance in her mind that anyone called Lord Death would be able to bring peace and not be talking about killing people.

"Good evening Miss Dawes." Said a familiar voice.

Rachel spun around to see- "Dr. Potter?"

"I'm sorry you got caught up in this, but I am proud of your actions and attempts to aid the police, Sergeant Gordon… and this young lad." He indicated the boy sleeping in Clark's arms.

"Wait… you're this 'Lord Death'? Are you in league with Crane?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"Crane is nothing more than a man who takes pleasure in the pain and suffering of others. I am the gateway between this life and the next. And so much more." Harry said with a small smile.

Harry closed his eyes and raised his hands as he floated into the air.

"Can all of you fly?" Rachel asked as she watched him in awe.

"We can now." One of the triplets smirked at Clark.

"We might want to lie down for a minute." One of the other triplets said.

"Even after all these millions of years, Harry still can't redirect this type of magic without affecting everyone in the zone." The last said as they began to lower themselves to the floor along with Clark who laid the boy down and the being made of fire that sat on the floor cross-legged.

* * *

Rachel wasn't sure what happened but one minute she was standing in the middle of the Narrows surrounded by criminals and hysterical citizens whilst several beings of incredible power and ability discussed the fate of Gotham, the next she was waking up in her bed.

She sat up quickly and looked around. She nearly squeaked when she saw the green-haired woman from the previous night standing at the foot of her bed.

"I'm just here to let you know that last night wasn't a dream. But you probably shouldn't talk about it to anyone. The world isn't ready for us yet. See you around Rachel."

And then the woman vanished.

Rachel didn't bother to get washed; she just threw on some clean clothes and jumped in her car heading straight for Wayne Manor.

* * *

"Ah, Miss Dawes."

"Not today Alfred. I need to talk to that idiot of yours." Rachel snarled as she barged passed him.

"Of course Miss Dawes. Happy to be of assistance Miss Dawes. Might I take your coat Miss Dawes?" Alfred muttered to himself as he trailed after the brunette.

"Bruce, wha-" She froze as she entered the dining room to find a large collection of people, she recognised them from the previous night, she also realised the man who saved her was Dr. Potter's assistant, Clark Kent, a mere farm boy.

"Rachel, I thought you might arrive today when Bruce told us he essentially told you his identity last night." Harry smiled. "Come in, let me introduce you. This is Lorna Dane, Laura Kinney, Celeste, Mindy and Phoebe Cuckoo, Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Jean Grey and Amara Aquilla, you met them all last night."

Rachel just stood there stuck to the spot.

"Alfred, perhaps some tea for Rachel?" Bruce smirked.

"Which of you is the fire man?" She asked suddenly.

There was a bright flash as Amara became engulfed in flames. She quickly doused them and repaired the damage to the chair, floor and table.

"Oh." She said weakly as Clark led her to a chair. She had been hoping that it had all been part of a hallucination, but seeing the woman burst into flame… it was all too real.

She was startled further when two other women appeared in the room. One was a golden haired woman and the other was dark haired and tan skinned.

"Ok, the cave is a little more friendly, the elevator down should survive everything short of nuclear explosion at ground zero and I am going to shut up now as there is a stranger here." The dark haired woman finished with a blush.

Harry just smiled. "Meet Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes. Rachel, meet Danielle Moonstar and Brunhilde. Rachel was in the middle of the Narrows yesterday trying to help the police and managed to save a young boy."

"Nice." Dani nodded appreciatively as she conjured extra seats for her and Hilde.

"Miss Moonstar, we have plenty of seats without the need for you to magic them out the air." Alfred chastised as he walked back in with two people older than the current occupants but younger than Alfred.

"And these are Jonathan and Martha Kent. Clark's parents." Harry sighed.

"Harry, she looks a little pale." Martha said with concern.

"She is trying to cope with all this new information." Jean explained.

"Sitting here surrounded by the lot of you won't help." Martha scowled. "Come with me, dear. I'll try and answer your questions." She said as she laid a hand on Rachel's shoulder and vanished.

"Your wife is fairly forceful, Mr. Kent." Bruce said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll say." Clark muttered.

Bruce just laughed with the others.

"Master Bruce, the papers have arrived, needless to say your adventures have made the front page." He laid out a stack of various local and national newspapers. "On every paper for the first five pages it seems."

As the group browsed through the various papers, duplicating them with magic so they all had a copy, Clark noticed one very important fact.

"Why are only Batman and Superman mentioned?"

"Magic." Harry smiled. "I made sure that only you two were recognised. Our presence was concealed as were our actions. Only Sergeant Gordon and Miss Dawes know about us. As we have said before, this world isn't ready for us. To be honest, they aren't ready for you, but you will need to make a start some time and now is as good a time as any."

"So the city and the world believes that Superman and Batman saved the city last night?" Bruce asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "Batman saved the city from destruction whilst Superman saved various individuals."

"What about the whole mass sleep thing?" Clark asked.

"It will be written off as a side effect of the drug that was in the air." Jean answered. "We managed to eradicate the drug from the air and water supply, there are no compounds left to test so no one can say otherwise."

"_Doctor Potter, would you be so kind as to inform Master Bruce that Mr. Lucius Fox is here?"_

"Alfred says there is a Mr. Lucius Fox here." Harry relayed the mental message.

"He's like Alfred, he helped the Batman where he could. Didn't even care if I couldn't tell him what I was doing." Bruce explained.

"It's your choice, Bruce. You are doing good in the world so you'll get nothing but my support." Harry assured him.

* * *

Rachel eventually got over the shock of being teleported by Martha Kent to what she claimed was Smallville, Kansas. Now she was trying to ask the right questions. As a prosecutor she always had to be careful of the answers she sought, especially in Gotham. The wrong question could tank a case or even put her life or another's in jeopardy.

She was fairly certain that the same was true here. Anyone who had the power to put a city to sleep or turn into flame and fly likely had to have a hidden agenda. It wasn't likely to be an agenda that was good for everyone.

So far she had asked fairly benign questions about what they generally did and could do. She had been purposefully avoiding the harder topics.

She was taken aback when Martha changed the subject abruptly.

"Did you know that my father was a lawyer?"

"I can honestly say I have never heard of you before today." Rachel said sincerely.

"I studied finance myself. But Daddy always taught me the keys of successfully arguing a case." She said with knowing smile. "Don't be afraid to ask any question you want, Rachel. I promise you there will be no repercussions for asking questions, there is only the chance you won't like the answer or you simply won't get one. Harry has a policy of never denying someone the right to ask a question though."

Rachel steeled herself and decided to bite the bullet. "What are Death's plans? Long term."

"Call him Harry, he only uses Lord Death for official stuff. I've never called him that myself." She said reassuringly. "To be blunt, Harry intends to have full control of the world. Now, before you go off and think he intends to conquer the world through force, let me assure you that is not the case."

Rachel continued to walk with Martha around the farm as Martha told her the stories the girls had told her about how Harry conquered the last two worlds he'd been in.

* * *

"What do you intend to do now?" Bruce's question was asked in as carefree a manner as possible, but even Clark picked up on the tension beneath it.

"We go home. You continue with what you are doing and make sure to call on us if you need help. You will also be meeting with Dani on a monthly basis for counselling sessions. You have a lot of trauma in your past and you need to deal with it before this new path of yours completely destroys you." Harry explained as he saw Bruce about to protest.

"You have full confidentiality, Bruce." Dani assured him. "I wouldn't tell your secrets and only Harry can actually force his way to them. He taught us how to magically hide certain secrets in our minds."

"I for one am begging you to consider this, Master Bruce." Alfred said earnestly.

Bruce looked at the man who had been like a father to him since his parents died. He knew what it was doing to the man to see him throw himself into danger like this. It seemed even more important that Alfred wanted this after he had heard his parents thank him for adopting him. Something that not even Bruce was aware he had done.

"If he refuses I will personally manhandle him to the sessions." Rachel declared with a scowl at Bruce and she and Martha rejoined the table.

"Don't worry Rachel. I'll make my own way there." Bruce assured her.

"Would one of you mind showing me the modifications you made to Mr. Wayne's equipment?" Lucius asked. "I'm curious as to how you improved it and if you might have solutions for some of our other dead end projects."

"Sure, follow me." Dani smiled brightly.

"A counsellor and an engineer?" Lucius asked in surprise as he rose to follow.

"And a doctor and a lawyer and so many other things. A hundred thousand years is a long time, you find you need to expand your repertoire or get bored out of your skull." Dani explained as she led Lucius away.


	17. Chapter 17

Clark stretched as he made his way downstairs to the Kent kitchen the following morning. He had to admit that as interesting as Gotham had been, he preferred Smallville and the farm. For now he just wanted to get back to chores and forget about the nightmares of the big city.

By the time breakfast was ready he realised that the rest of the holidays would be pretty lonely with Lana in New York, Lex somewhere in the world and Chloe in Metropolis. It didn't help that he finished all his chores in minutes and the rest where handled by his parents, Amara and Dani.

Clark had three more weeks of this boredom.

"Get your suit on Superman, you have work to do!"

Clark turned to see Harry standing there grinning like the loon he was.

"What work? I thought we were leaving Gotham to Batman and the authorities."

"We are, but Batman is a local hero for now. Superman needs to be a world wide hero."

"What does Clark Kent need to be?" The farm boy asked glibly.

"Why don't you see what I have planned and then answer that question yourself." Harry challenged seriously.

* * *

When Harry brought Clark back to the castle that evening it was a very subdued Clark that returned. He didn't say a word as he headed up to the Astronomy Tower to sit and simply think.

"What did you do?" Jonathan asked with great concern.

"I showed him that being a hero doesn't always mean rescuing girls and defeating bad guys. Sometimes its just about giving hope to others." Harry said with a sad look. "I took him to some of the worst places in Africa. The places where war, famine and disease have hit the hardest. Clark has a big heart, but today… well, I broke his heart a bit." Harry sighed.

"You showed him starving children?" Martha half asked and half stated.

Harry just nodded.

"He didn't help them? I would have thought that he would have been running all over the world to fix it." Jonathan frowned. His son was never someone to leave people to suffer and flail helplessly.

"He wanted to, but this is also a teaching exercise. He needed to learn how to help these people properly. He could have easily run around the world shopping for food and water for them, but that would only hold them for a limited amount of time."

"The classic: 'give a man a fish versus teach a man to fish'." Jonathan nodded.

"Actually it is more than that." Scott corrected. "Some of these places are simply in hospitable to humans. The land is dead or the seasons are too harsh. Clark needs to learn to use his powers to change the landscape, but do so without causing a complete global effect."

"That doesn't even begin to take into account the times when you need to convince a village or tribe to up root due to the dangers of disease in the area or poisons or even things like volcanoes." Amara added.

"Or the more insidious and disgusting dangers of marauders and pillagers who do unspeakable things to vulnerable villages." Emma scowled.

"There is a reason I haven't taken him to Sierra Leone or the Sudan." Harry said seriously. "Clark is _not_ ready to deal with that level of evil. People like the Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul are puppies compared to those monsters."

"But you are helping them, right?" Martha asked anxiously.

"Of course!" Harry assured her with a smile. "I've been killing various monsters left, right and centre in Africa. I currently control the diamond mines of Sierra Leone and no one can come near the villagers without severe problems if they intend harm."

"Severe-"

"Don't ask Jonathan." Scott warned. "Just be assured that the level of punishment fits the level of intended crime. Beyond that… Harry has a dark and perverse sense of humour."

Harry just grinned. "You know me so well."

* * *

Fortunately for Clark school rolled around. He was in frequent therapy sessions with Jean as she wanted to make sure she was handling the work Harry had him doing in Africa not to mention the trauma he suffered under Crane's fear toxin in Gotham. Harry had also enlisted Bruce to join Clark and Scott in discussing what it meant to be a masked hero of sorts. Granted Clark didn't wear a mask but he did conceal his true identity.

The days when Alfred dragged Bruce to counselling sessions, the elder Kents spent talking with the old family butler and his time as a soldier and what it meant to not only serve a higher purpose but also to try and keep a young hero such, as Bruce, in check. It was useful information that Jonathan and Martha would need to know.

With school came the return of his friends. Chloe was bouncing around like a five year old on a sugar high as she went on and on about her internship at the Daily Planet and when she could get in a word edgewise Lana was regaling him with tales of New York and fashion and her dreams of being a designer.

Clark had scored big boyfriend points when he had honestly and guilelessly asked why she didn't want to be a model instead.

The intense make out session she dragged him to left him fairly hot and bothered for his first class. It was an absolute nightmare as it was exceptionally hot outside and every boy and girl felt it, although Clark faked it. Outer tops were removed and the boys were treated to a very pleasing sight of lots of exposed female skin. Fortunately the trips were fairly modest despite the heat.

God bless the summer.

This did not help Clark's already high blood pressure as Lana was sat beside him in a very light and loose top and from what he could tell… a very minimal bra. And he could tell a lot with that top.

"Careful Clark, we might just discover how strong other parts of you are." She whispered teasingly in his ear.

Clark just groaned and dropped his head on the table.

"Ok class, I am sorry to tell you that the air conditioner is dead and we are all going to just have to suffer." Clark looked up at the new voice. He hadn't met the new science teacher yet but he was shocked when an absolute vision of beauty walked in dressed in a _very _short and _very_ thin summer dress.

The eyes of every boy were on her. Not a single one was on her face though.

"Ahem!" Lana coughed quietly.

Clark slowly turned to see an amused yet stern looking Lana eyeing him quizzically.

"Are you telling me you didn't look when she walked in dressed like that?" Clark whispered defensively.

"Something you'd like to share Mr…. Kent?" The teacher asked as she consulted her seating chart.

"No, ma'am." He nearly squeaked.

"Very well." She smirked knowingly. "I am Miss Atkins your new biology teacher. Today the subject is sex. I assume you are all avidly interested in the subject one way or another so I will attempt to start this antiquated piece of machinery and allow you to learn from the movie." She said as she examined the projector.

Clark gave a groaning sob as Lana snickered next to him.

In short order the male section of the class had trouble staying seated as they were treated to the site of Miss Atkins thong-clad posterior as she bent over the projector in her _very_ short dress.

"She has to be doing that on purpose." Chloe hissed from the other side of Lana.

"I just wish she'd stop." Clark moaned.

Fortunately the video started and Miss Atkins stood up and retreated to the back of the class.

Clark immediately began to wonder if he was actually still under the effects of Crane's fear toxin as he wasn't sure Lana was wrong about him being super powered… down there. He thought he could hear the stitching in his jeans popping.

All of this was a result of the scantily clad females in the room, the heavy make out session with Lana before class, and the she-devil temptress of a teacher and now the scenes of animals humping like animals on the screen.

The heat began to build and so did the pressure. Just as the pressure was building from the constraints of his jeans, Clark's eyes began to warm and the screen burst into flame.

Clark didn't know what to do. He tried to close his eyes but they kept opening of their own accord.

"Help!" He whispered harshly to Lana.

"What's wrong?" She asked as the teacher hurried the students out and she pulled the alarm.

"The fire… I think it's me, I can't close my eyes!"

"Clark, it's an emergency, smash your watch." Chloe ordered.

"What?" He hissed, his eyes fixed on his rapidly burning desk.

"Harry said to smash your watch in an emergency and he would come."

"You three, out now!" Miss Atkins ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" Clark said hastily as he kept his face down and he shuffled out.

Lana gave a jerk of her head to Chloe who nodded and by unspoken agreement she went to find Harry or one of the other castle residents as Lana led Clark outside.

* * *

Harry arrived outside the normal way, as teleporting amongst a mass of people not in the know would cause panic and blow his secrets wide open. Chloe was dragging him along.

"Clark… Chloe tells me this is your fault?" Harry smiled as he walked up.

"I think it is." He nodded; the fire had finally stopped.

Clark was shocked when Harry hugged him tightly… strangely the heat cooled pretty quickly.

"My hero!" Harry declared theatrically as he let Clark go.

"What?"

Chloe just snickered. "He was a bra away from a naked Felice Chandler jumping him."

"She came in claiming to be suffering from heat stroke and started taking off her clothes." Harry groused. "I'm moving Dani's office to an area just off mine, she can be my female chaperone."

"Ooh! More Harry-Time for me!" The aforementioned mutant said gleefully as she bounced up.

"You work here now?" Lana asked.

"Guidance Counsellor. Well, and general counsellor if needed." She nodded. "Emma wanted me here last year but I wanted to work on the farm." She pouted.

"There is plenty of work in the evenings and weekends, Dani." Clark assured her. "Now can we get back to the fire shooting from my eyes?"

"Are you sure it was actually fire?" Dani asked, not doubting the story for a minute.

"Where I looked, fire appeared." Clark shrugged.

"Yeah, but that might not mean fire from your eyes, it could have been lasers or basic focused beams of heat. Have you ever seen Scott use his powers? He can cut through metal like a laser but what he actually produces are beams of focused concussive force." She explained.

"What ever it is there is some new activity in his brain and eyes." Harry confirmed. "And… other areas." He smirked causing the three teenagers to blush.

Harry placed a hand over Clark's eyes. "I've placed a neutralising shield over your eyes, as long as the energy coming out of your eyes is a standard form and not alien to Earth then it should be dissipated as it leaves your eyes. We will work on it properly this evening."

"Clark, Harry! Is everyone alright? I just heard."

The five turned to see Lex jump out of his Porsche and run towards them.

"Heard what? And when did you get back in town?" Dani asked.

"There was a fire in the biology lab, and this morning." He answered. "Is everyone-" He trailed off as he spotted someone and they watched as he ran to the arms of Miss Atkins and snogged her brains out.

"That's new." Chloe remarked.

"Does Lex realise how badly she's dressed for a school?" Lana asked snidely. "Wait, does Miss Frost?"

"Miss Frost did not know." Came Emma's ice-cold tones as she walked up. "She and I will be having a long chat about appropriate attire for a school teacher."

"Hello pot, I'm kettle!" Dani muttered.

"You know full well that I always dressed appropriately in the classroom, Dani." Emma growled.

"Did that really make a difference when you wore your costume around the mansion… it _was _a boarding school after all."

"Everybody, I liked you to meet Desiree Atkins, my fiancé." Lex beamed as he led the indecently dressed biology teacher towards the group. "Desiree, I'm sure you already know my friends here, you either work with them or teach them."

"Yes." She said with a coy smile. "Mr. Kent there was in that last lesson."

"So where Lana and Chloe." Clark reminded her.

Desiree looked a bit surprised. "Oh, of course."

"Emma, the fire department have contained the fire but they want the school closed for the day so they can give a full sweep." Laura announced as she approached with Scott. "Hey Lex, didn't know you were back already." She said with a friendly smile.

Nobody who saw it could help but notice the jealous glare that came off Desiree. It was quickly masked by a friendly smile.

"Very well." Emma sighed. "If you would assemble the students I will announce the day's closure."

"Clark, I have a request, would you be my best man. We are having the wedding tonight." Lex asked seriously.

"Wow! You're getting married already? I didn't even know you were dating!" Chloe gasped. She then blushed as everyone looked at her funnily. "Sorry, it's just that I was at the Planet so I had access to all the news before it broke. There wasn't even a hint of this. Everything about you was business or your dad's blindness."

Lex just smiled. "It's a bit of a whirlwind romance, but I couldn't be happier." He turned back to Clark. "Clark? You willing to be my best man?"

"Sure, I'd be honoured." Clark said quickly and truthfully. "I'll try and find a decent suit, my wardrobe was overhauled last year so it shouldn't be a problem." He said with a glare at Dani.

"Watch it Kent or we'll take you out for round two… swim wear." She smiled evilly.

* * *

As soon as they were done and the school secured, Harry took Clark, Chloe and Lana back to the castle. He immediately removed the shield from his eyes and they headed out back to where they knew the other residents of the castle where spending the day relaxing and lounging. Harry refused to let Earl and the others work in such heat.

Unfortunately for Clark there was a large swimming pool and all of the ladies were either dripping wet in the pool or sunning themselves on the deck chairs.

Jean took one look at the newcomers and with a wave of her hand they were dressed in appropriate swimwear.

Lorna screamed in pain as Clark's gaze was currently on her bikini-clad body.

"Harry! I can't stop it!" Clark cried as he clamped a hand on his face to block the fire.

Jean had already healed Lorna and everyone was now rushing to help Clark.

"Jeeze Clark, I've heard of 'heated looks' before but that was scorching!" Lorna giggled as she rubbed her stomach where the energy from Clark's eyes had sliced through her.

"I am so sorry, are you alright?" He asked with his eyes covered.

"I'm fine, had much worse than that before." She said dismissively.

"I saw your entrails!" Chloe squawked disbelievingly.

"I've had limbs removed in battle, all of us have. Trust us, that is much worse, and Jean had me fixed before the pain kicked in properly anyway." She assured them.

"Well the good news is that we have figured out what sets off Clark's laser eyes." Harry smiled smugly. "Female flesh, the more the better!"

"Oh… we better fix that then." Amara said as she moved to conjure more concealing clothes.

"Ah! Wait, I was being a bit flippant, it's actually his hormones that are doing it." Harry stopped her. "He needs to learn control, so trying to keep him protected from what I personally consider to be one of the best things in life won't help him."

"What's your plan?" Amara asked warily.

Harry just grinned. "Swim wear catwalk!"

* * *

When Martha and Jonathan arrived at the castle that evening they had no idea what to think of the high-class fashion parade of the various females walking out onto a catwalk and sauntering sexily down the platform before bending over and blowing kisses at Clark who was sitting between Chloe and Lana.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jonathan asked completely flabbergasted.

"Jonathan, Martha! Come in and enjoy the show." Harry beamed happily as he handed them a fruity drink.

"What are those girls wearing?!" Martha demanded as the Cuckoos came out together wearing white bikinis. Although calling them bikinis was a stretch, they were more like a collection of loose strings.

"Relax, Clark developed a new power today and the girls are helping him train."

Jonathan closed his eyes, partly to block out the sight of what he considered under age girls but mainly to try and run through Harry's statement. "I give up, what could this possibly help him train?" He sighed.

"He shoots a form of energy from his eyes. His current trigger is arousal. The girls are flooding him and he is trying to stop it." Harry explained.

"You are joking, aren't you?" Martha asked hopefully.

"Ah." Harry grimaced in realisation. "We didn't tell you about his accident at school. The school was shut down after he accidentally set the biology classroom on fire. Scott, Emma and Laura should be back soon."

"How long has this been going on?" Jonathan asked, the triplets were off stage and Jean was currently stalking down in an emerald bikini. He felt a bit less conflicted at seeing that. He briefly considered asking if Martha wanted a turn on the catwalk… but then realised that his wife might relegate him to the couch and his son would not be pleased either.

"Since mid-morning."

"And he still hasn't got it?" Martha gasped.

"Oh no, he got it after half an hour. The girls just enjoy playing with him and Lana and Chloe. They want to see how red they will get and who will break first. Of course, those three know what they are trying to do and are holding out. They actually started out with some pretty conservative swimwear."

"LORNA DANE PUT THOSE AWAY!" Martha screeched as the aforementioned mutant walked out with her chest covered only by her hands.

Lorna pouted before Jean marched out and dragged her backstage.

Unfortunately Clark, Lana and Chloe had now realised that Clark's parents where there. Chloe actually managed to pass out in shame.

"I'm declaring you three the winners." Harry grinned at the young couple and their unconscious friend.

* * *

Everyone soon split up and the girls all headed off to get into their dresses whilst the guys went for their suits. It was far too hot for tuxedos and Lex said it was a smart garden party.

The wedding was simple and elegant. Clark managed to make a thoughtful and slightly humorous speech even though he had to come up with it on the spot.

Clark couldn't be happier for his friend and the fact that Lana looked stunning in her own dress and was his date made the afternoon perfect.

Being a school day Chloe and Lana headed home early, Clark decided to spend some time using his knew ability so he headed up to his barn loft and began practising lighting candles. He was fairly surprised when the new Mrs. Luthor turned up dressed in a similar summer dress to the one she had worn at school.

"Miss Atkins- I mean Mrs. Luthor, I wasn't expecting to see you for a few days." Clark said as he stood politely.

Desiree smiled coyly as she idly picked up book on astronomy sitting on Clark's table. "Why don't you call me Desiree, Clark? I think we will be getting to know each other quite well after today."

Clark just nodded as that made sense as she had married one of his friends. "Was there something I could help you with?" He asked when she eventually made her way to his couch and sat down, crossing her legs and giving him a clear idea of what type of underwear she wore. None.

"Why don't you come and sit with me whilst we talk Clark?" She suggested as she patted the seat next to her.

Alarm bells were going off in his head as he recalled the discussion from the castle earlier today after Emma and the others had arrived after dealing with the school. Emma had been on a rant about how Desiree claimed she had no idea how revealing her dress was. Every girl there from his mother to Chloe had confirmed that a girl _always_ knew how revealing her attire was and just how she could and could not move in it.

In other words, Desiree Atkins was trying seduce him. For the first time in a long while Clark desperately considered smashing his watch. But he wasn't sure how he would explain the school doctor teleporting into his loft.

"I'm fine here. Easier to see you." He shrugged nervously as he backed up to his desk.

Desiree pouted as she rose and sashayed her way towards him.

Clark froze as he heard the desk crack from him trying to back his way through it.

"But I need you Clark. You might be the only one who can help me." She purred.

"Lex can help you. He can do lots of things." Clark began to panic. "You married him for a reason after all."

"Yes, but he changed. He does things to me… bad things… you have to save me, Clark."

Desiree was very much invading his personal space. She had draped herself across his broad chest and her face was millimetres away from his.

Clark deftly placed two hands on her hips and spun her around. The smirk on Desiree's lips was all he needed to know as he backed up and it became a scowl.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Luthor. I can't believe Lex would ever do that. I can see a fair amount of your skin and I can't see a mark on you." Clark took a deep breath. "If you'll excuse me I think I'll turn in for the night." He quickly turned and fled as fast as he could with breaking any Olympic records.

* * *

The next day it was a very tired Clark that arrived at the Kent breakfast table.

"I thought you came in reasonably early last night." Martha frowned. "Did you start flying in your sleep again?"

"No… I had a late night visit in my loft. From Mrs. Luthor." He said hesitantly.

"On her wedding night?" Jonathan asked with a scowl.

"She accused Lex of abusing her and tried to get me to save her. She didn't have a mark on her that I could see… I think she was trying to seduce me." Clark was very embarrassed by this. He was a very private person. It was all part of his upbringing of secrecy.

"Why on Earth would she do that!? She's a school teacher for goodness sake." Jonathan said angrily.

"I don't know Dad, but I think she might be trying to get Lex arrested… or worse."

Martha stood up to answer the door when the bell rang.

"Sheriff, what brings you here this morning?" She asked.

Miller came in with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Martha, Jonathan, but I need to take Clark in. Last night Mrs. Luthor's car was blown up and she claimed to see Clark tampering with it."

Jonathan chuckled in disbelief. "I hope you have more evidence then that, Ethan. Clark just told us that last night she came to see him and claimed Lex was abusing her. She was trying to get him to move against him somehow. She also made unwanted sexual advances against him."

"I'm sure all that will come out in the investigation, but for now Clark needs to come-"

"Nowhere, Sheriff Miller." Came the stern tones of Amara Aquila. "Unless you can provide a warrant." She stated as she walked in with Martha behind her from the back door.

"At this point I don't need to have a warrant, I just need to take him in for questioning."

"Which you can do by appointment through me." She informed him. "We will be at the station in a few hours once Mr. Kent has had a chance to put on some clothes and maybe have some breakfast. In the meantime I suggest you investigate Mrs. Luthor a bit more thoroughly, she has just been accused of sexual deviancy on a minor after all."

* * *

When Harry had been told about what happened he immediately headed out to Lex's Mansion. He used one of the castles cars as Desiree was not clued in on their little secret and Lex wouldn't have been able to tell anyone due to the various protections Harry had put on everyone he met who did know.

The first thing he noted when he pulled into the garage was Lex's Porsche was missing, that meant that he might not be home. But he decided to see if Desiree was home.

He didn't bother knocking as he phased through the door and followed the telltale sight of Desiree's soul. He found her in the swimming pool: nude.

"Desiree, I need a word with you." Harry called out.

Desiree was startled to hear someone had come in and was speaking to her so. She already had the staff and Lex under her sway. She saw Harry Potter and saw a new opportunity. She flipped over on her back and began a slow backstroke to the ladder giving Harry a perfect view of her exquisite body. She then slowly climbed out of the pool allowing the water to stream down her hair and body.

"I'm so glad you're here, Harry." She said with sultry voice.

Harry just raised an eyebrow at the clearly seductive methods of the new Mrs. Atkins. "I take it you don't have any shame or modesty?" He asked.

"This is my home, why should I be ashamed in my own home?" She said as she walked up to him one foot directly in front of the other in that common sexy walk.

"Whatever, I want to know why you lied about Clark tampering with your car and why you accused Lex of abusing you." He said with a dismissive wave. Desiree's body had no effect on him. He slept naked with several other naked women every night. Emma frequently walked around naked.

Desiree was undeterred as she reached Harry who took a step back to preserve his own personal space. "I did see Clark tamper with my car last night and Lex is abusing me." She took a quick step forward and leaned into Harry allowing her naked wet body to rub against his fully clothed body. "I need you Harry." She whispered as she moved her lips to within millimetres of his. "Only you can save me and make whole again." She said with a slight moan.

Harry frowned. He could feel her breath trying to affect him. Something was entering his bloodstream. It made little difference as his healing abilities simply cleaned his blood before it could affect him. But he had a clue what was going on.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and jerked her back, holding her at arms length. He began to examine her body's internal systems. He found a set of anomalous glands inside her airways. There was also a small amount of Kryptonian energy in her system. He wasn't sure what the glands did or secreted but he had a fair idea that she was controlling Lex.

"Bad move, Desiree." Harry snapped angrily. "I don't like people playing with my friends. Get dressed. We are going to the Sheriff's office."

"Get your hands off me!" She snapped when she realised that her special abilities had no effect on Harry. She was beginning to wonder if there was something about Clark and Harry as neither had succumbed to her will. "I don't have to go anywhere with you."

"Fine, I'll just call the Sheriff and have him come here. Then, when I explain how you have been using that little ability of yours to control Lex; the Sheriff can have you shipped off to somewhere like Belle Reeve. I hear they are very interested in people with special abilities… lots of tests they want to run and all that." He grinned evilly.

"You'll never prove anything. Lex won't let anything happen to me." She said assertively as she grabbed a bathrobe nearby and put it on.

"You're assuming I can't undo whatever you did to him." Harry pointed out. "You have two choices. You confess your crimes to the Sheriff and accept your punishment or I drag you in, tell the world what you can do and then let the system deal with you."

"Like they would believe you."

"Choice is yours." Harry shrugged. "Either way; get dressed whilst I call the Sheriff." He said as he pulled out his phone.

* * *

When the Kent's and Amara arrived at the station a livid Lex Luthor met them.

"How could you do this Clark? You are like a brother to me!"

"Whoa, calm down Lex." Jonathan said as he tried to restrain the younger man. "I don't think you have the full story, or even a part of the true one."

"Desiree told me what Clark did."

"Did she tell you about the late night visit?" Amara asked as a deputy assisted Jonathan with Lex.

"She said Clark tried to force himself on her."

"Two questions Lex. One, why would your new wife leave your home on her wedding night to visit _anyone_ and two, you know how strong Clark is, do you honestly believe that Desiree would be able to fend off an advance from someone like Clark?"

Lex seemed to stall as his mind fought an internal battle where the effects of Desiree's powers to make him loyal and obedient to her and believe everything she said warred with what he knew and believed about Clark Kent… the boy he truly felt was like his little brother.

His face grew steadily redder bordering on purple as his veins began to bulge.

All of a sudden his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed.

"Call an ambulance." Amara ordered the deputy as she stepped forward and began checking him. "He's out cold and unresponsive. I believe he might have slipped into a coma."

"Because he couldn't handle the truth?" Jonathan asked in concern. He had truly started to put aside his animosity for the lad.

"No, we all know Lex is stronger than that. I would suspect some form of brainwashing."

"Brainwashing? That's seems fairly fanciful, Miss Aquilla." Sheriff Miller said sceptically.

"Agreed, and it is merely a theory. We will wait for the doctors to give their opinion, although I am qualified myself."

"Jean is en route." Martha said as she put her phone away.

"Deputy! Where's that ambulance?" Miller barked.

"They said they would get here soon as they can Sheriff." The deputy said quite casually.

Miller frowned at the young man. It was well known that the Luthors had many enemies and a good few were among Smallville's residents. He hoped the deputy hadn't done anything stupid.

"Sheriff, I have Miss Atkins here who- what the hell is going on?" Harry demanded as he pushed Desiree into a nearby chair and began checking on Lex.

"He confronted Clark about last night and his alleged actions but when I pointed out the logical flaws he seemed incapable of handling the truth and his mind seems to have shut down. I believe he has slipped into a coma." Amara informed him.

Whilst checking his eyes and pupil reactions Harry was able to do a quick scan of his mind. Lex's mind had locked itself away to protect him.

"Have you contacted Jean or Emma?"

"Jean is en route."

"Ok, Lex is stable for now. His autonomic functions are fine, he has just shut down to handle mental trauma."

"You can tell all that just by looking at his eyes?" The deputy asked in amazement.

Harry just smiled. "Most of it is based on the fact that his body is working and the description Miss Aquilla gave of what brought him to this state."

* * *

"Desiree confessed to drugging you and staging her own attempted murder and soliciting a minor. She'll be going away for a good few years." Amara told Lex as he sat up in the hospital bed.

Lex was feeling perfectly fine thanks to Harry cleaning his system and Jean helping him escape the lockdown his mind had put him in. He was stuck in the hospital at least over night due to his collapse and diagnosis in public.

"But what if it comes out that she is meteor infected?" Lex asked.

"Harry provided her with a canister of the pheromone based gas she emitted. She will claim to have used that on you. Also, Harry put a charm on her to prevent her using it. She still has it, but she can't use it."

There was a knock on the door before it opened and Lionel Luthor walked in as if he owned the place. He held a white stick in one hand and had an aide on his left arm guiding him. He dismissed the aide grouchily.

"Lex, Lex, Lex." He said with patronising disappointment. "I really thought you would have learnt your lesson now about women." He said as he reached around for the end of the bed.

"I've learnt many lessons about women, _Dad_. What do you want?" He asked clearly not pleased with the visit.

"Why I came to see you son!" He said as though it was obvious. "Why I heard that you were in hospital so soon after your wedding (which I wasn't invited to) and I did what any good father would do."

It was obvious by this point that he had no idea Amara was in the room. No one seemed inclined to inform him.

"Is that the _only_ reason?" Lex asked.

"Should there be another? Is that not reason enough?"

"For a 'good father', I suppose not." Lex said with a little dig.

"Yes… well, I will see you back at the mansion." Lionel said.

"I'll be here over night. Then I'll be straight back to work. I have a plant to run." Lex pointed out. It was a point of pride that he had managed to save the jobs of his employees.

"And I will see you then. My doctors have declared I've made such good progress that they have told me to take a break. I decided that I could use my new found freedom for us to engage in some bonding time."

Amara's eyebrow shot up and Lex had to smother a snort at her reaction.

"As I said, much of my time is spent at the plant."

"I'm sure you can find some spare time for your ailing father Lex." He said dismissively.

Lionel turned to the door and began searching for the handle. When it took him a few seconds he was shocked to hear a female voice.

"Three inches down, two to your left."

Lionel froze.

Lex wadded up his bed covers and bit down hard to prevent his laughter.

After a few seconds Lionel placed his hand on the door handle but turned to Amara.

"Do you think it is appropriate to take advantage of the blind and eavesdrop on their conversations, young lady?" He asked with restrained irritation.

"Of course not. But I was not eavesdropping."

"Then what do you call sitting there listening to my private and personal conversation with my son?"

"Bad judgement on your part for not ensuring your son was alone and available for a private discussion. I believe this is one of those instances where you made a poor assumption… and we all know what those do to a person."

"You approve of this girl, Lex?" Lionel demanded.

Lex really wanted to respond but he was too busy trying not to laugh at Amara implying Lionel was an ass. Not that she was wrong.

Amara surreptitiously cast a calming charm at Lex.

Lex dropped his blankets. "She has a point, Dad. You did just barge in and assume I was alone."

"One would think people would be polite enough to introduce themselves."

"Consider this an object lesson on being aware of your surroundings, Mr. Luthor."

Lionel's blood pressure began to rise. "Just who are you?"

"No one that concerns you." She said calmly. "Lex, I'll see you around." She said as she stood and walked towards the door. "Excuse me Mr. Luthor, you're blocking the door."

Lionel grunted but released the door and stepped back.

As Amara closed the door behind her she noticed the aide standing across the hall. She stepped up to him. "I believe Mr. Luthor might require your assistance." She said with a small smile.

The aide was a young man, clearly new on the job. He nervously darted to the door as Amara walked off.

Amara smirked evilly as she heard a bang.

"OW! You idiot! Haven't you heard of knocking?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Luthor, I thought-"

"I highly doubt you are capable of such a thing. Get me to my car and then you can leave. You're fired."

Amara wondered just how much of spine the aide had and if he would walk away from his former employer and leave him stranded.

Not that she cared as she reached the elevator and boarded, leaving the scene behind.

* * *

That evening Clark was surprised to find Harry standing in his loft just staring at the setting sun. There was no training planned and he knew his parents had already headed to bed. He had come out to do some reading.

"Harry, everything ok?"

Harry didn't spare a glance, but Clark could see the slight upturn of a smile on his lips.

"I'm just borrowing your fortress for brooding purposes." He sighed. "Lana is having a sleepover with the Cuckoos, something about not wanting to be in the same house as her aunt when she has… company."

Clark couldn't help the grimace as the ramifications of parental figures having company ran through his head.

He shook his head and redirected his thoughts. "So why are you brooding? I can't think why someone like you would brood." He asked as he leant against the opposite side of the window.

"Today was a prime example of choosing between respecting a persons life and protecting their lives." Harry said. "You know that I can look at a person with magic and see everything about their biology. Whether they are healthy, how they will age… everything. But I don't walk around doing it to everyone. I don't look at your dad and mum every time I see them."

Clark wasn't sure where this was going. "Why would you want to? Your… soul mates are all very attractive, why look at their organs when they have beautiful faces?"

Harry smirked. "You will have earned yourself huge brownie points with the girls when I tell them this later." Clark still wasn't entirely comfortable with all the nudity and exposed flesh in the castle; he still wasn't good with girls in general. But he was learning to speak truthfully and plainly.

"Imagine that every time I met someone, each time I would check their health. What do you think about that?" Harry asked throwing the subject out for debate.

Clark took a breath as he considered it. "Well… you could do a lot of good by alerting people to things like cancer early… but it sounds like a big invasion of privacy."

"Those would be the main points for and against." Harry nodded. "Now put it in terms of today, if I had checked Lex's health when we first saw each other yesterday I could have cleaned his system _and_ noticed Desiree's additional glands."

Harry smiled to himself as he could practically feel Clark next to him trying to come up with the perfect situation.

"There is no correct answer, Clark Kent."

Both men turned, mildly surprised at the new female voice that spoke. Standing before them was a young beautiful woman approximately twenty years of age. She had long blonde hair that fell in waves past her bottom and light skin that held a glow. She wore a white gown, like a toga.

Clark was shocked when Harry bowed slightly to the woman. "Goddess, it is a pleasure to meet you." He said.

"Likewise Lord Death and Clark Kent." She returned the bow.

Clark had to admit, he was pretty impressed that she had not fallen out of her top.

"Aphrodite, I presume?" Harry asked.

"Correct. I bring the greetings of the gods of Olympus, but my visit is on behalf of another." She smiled.

"Erm, would you like to sit down?" Clark offered, cringing at the raggedy couch that was all he had to offer. He had met two goddesses of love and beauty in the previous world Harry had lived in, he knew them to be very easy going and not hung up on airs and graces, but this woman seemed quite formal.

"Thank you Clark." She said as she regally sat down, clearly not bothered by the state of the place.

"What brings you here, Goddess?" Harry asked respectfully.

"Please, call me Aphrodite." She insisted.

"Harry and Clark then."

Clark nodded.

"You may not know this but the gods and goddesses of love, affection, marriage and all that would bring souls together have long watched you. The goddesses of your previous world, Aphrodite and Venus, were not permitted to speak of it yet but you have proven yourself time and again a Champion of Love."

"Love is something to nurtured and protected. When I join souls together I have always been careful as I felt it was Love's territory for as long as I have known about the Aspects. I tried to involve the goddesses whenever possible." Harry admitted.

"And it is your respect and actions that have brought me here today." Aphrodite nodded. "Love has spoken to us and wishes to acknowledge you as one of its Avatars."

Both Harry and Clark's eyebrows shot up, thought for differing reasons.

"You can speak to Love?" Harry asked; he had always wanted to meet someone who was his equal. But he had not managed to find hint of Time or Love beyond their avatars and deities.

"Not in the way I can speak to you." She said apologetically. "Love has no physical form that can be seen or communed with. But Love does guide it's avatars in it's own way. Should you accept then when you next visit your previous home my counterparts there will recognise and acknowledge you as one them."

Harry nodded, slightly sad that he would forever be in a class of his own.

"Clark, you had a question. Please feel free to speak openly with me." She said kindly.

Clark swallowed hard but nodded. "Would you be making Harry a god, like you?"

"No, Harry is beyond us. What we offer is not an ability or knowledge in the conventional sense. What we offer is more an acknowledgement. Membership in a fairly exclusive group, if you will." She explained. "Harry has all that he needs to be an Avatar for Love. Soon he will have even more, but he has been acting as Love's Champion for many thousands of years. Love feels that this should be recognised, much in the same way that we would recognise a loyal worshipper in times gone past."

"Wait… what do you mean, 'have even more'?" Harry asked quickly.

"Things have happened that have not yet happened. As such, I am not permitted to speak of them." She said with smile. She chuckled when Harry grimaced.

"What?" Clark asked.

"Time travel." Harry muttered. "Prepare for a major headache."

"It wasn't so bad when you took me back." Clark frowned.

Harry laughed. "I took you back to prehistoric times and I made sure we didn't affect anything too much. What Aphrodite is referring to is going back to recent history and doing things that could have a huge impact on how things turn out _and_ there will be two of me running around!"

Aphrodite took up the explanation. "But at the same time these things have already occurred so they must be done."

Clark thought that over for a second. His left eye began to twitch.

"Clark, give it up. I've been time travelling for centuries and I still haven't figured it out." Harry warned.

"It is true, this is why there are no Avatars of Time." Aphrodite admitted. "All who have tried to tamper or control Time have fallen to madness."

"Guess that means I'm half way there then." Harry muttered.

Aphrodite laughed. "No My Lord. By control, I meant forcefully. As with Love you have shown Time the utmost respect. Many of your jaunts through the ages have been in an observational capacity, most of the time you have made arrangements to protect the integrity of Time."

"Am I the only Aspect who is… born human?" Harry asked.

"You are. But you are also the youngest Aspect."

"I thought Aspects were timeless." Clark frowned.

"They are, in a sense. But just as Existence is timeless, Time has no beginning and no end. Love came into being when the first creatures were able to care for their young. Death could not exist until there were souls to harvest."

"What about all the creatures that died before Love existed?" Clark asked.

"They had no souls. Souls came before Love but after time. Souls created Love when they first appeared, for you cannot have love without a soul."

Harry nodded in agreement with that.

"It was not until the first soul descended into the madness of prolonged mortality that Death was created. Some day, Harry will find himself drawn to that first soul and he will release it to the other side."

"How do you know all this?" Clark asked curiously.

"I was blessed with this knowledge for the sole purpose of passing it on to Lord Death."

"Blessed by Love?"

Aphrodite smiled; Clark was trying to grasp this but clearly struggling. But she was pleased that he was keeping an open mind. "Try not to wonder on this too much, young Clark. You have an eternity to ponder the mysteries of Existence, there is no need to solve them all in your first two decades." She laughed.

Harry smiled, he too was happy that Clark was trying.

"Eternity… that's a long time." Clark sighed.

Aphrodite turned back to Harry. "My purpose is fulfilled. Know that you are one of Love's own now and your work comes with Love's blessing."

She stood and Harry and Clark did likewise.

"Follow the new bond East to the Devil's Triangle. There amongst the denizens of a sacred and protected island you will find a gift from the Gods of Olympus. Do not follow the broken bond West. The time has not come as of yet. Fate will guide you as needed." She said cryptically.

"It has been a pleasure, Goddess." Harry said as he bowed to the exquisite beauty.

Aphrodite stepped forward and kissed Harry chastely yet warmly on the lips. Clark was stunned when she did the same to him.

"I look forward to a long friendship." She said before she vanished in a swirl of light.

Harry and Clark stood there silently for a few moments.

"Oh god!"

"What?" Harry asked.

"How am I going to explain to Lana that I got kissed by Aphrodite?"

Harry just laughed as he teleported out leaving an annoyed and worried Clark Kent standing alone in his loft.


	18. Chapter 18

Harry was drafted in as the substitute biology teacher until a replacement could be found. It wasn't a hard job for the man who preferred medicine as his calling in life, plus it kept him out of the Doctor's Office and the grabby hands of girls like Felice.

Emma also had interviews with prospective new Assistant Principals. The plan was to find someone who could take over when things began to heat up in the world so they could all step down and have more free time to deal with worldwide issues.

There was currently no rush as the appearance of powered individuals was quite sporadic. They seemed to be situated in Smallville and Metropolis for now but there were reports of feats of inhuman ability in Japan of all places. Fortunately there were no reports from Bruce, although he was having trouble with some nut dressing like a clown.

The one incident of Superman and Batman appearing together was being played down and no one was talking about Superman's work in Africa.

That evening Clark was treated to a new training activity. Swimming.

"I know how to swim, Harry."

"Yes, but that is not the test. The test is your lung capacity. Chloe had the idea that everything might be super about you. Your lungs and senses as well. Your lungs are the easiest things to test for now. We will test your sight, hearing and smell at a later date during the holidays."

"Why then?"

"Because whilst people might not notice if you are holding your breath for long periods they will definitely notice if you are flinching at every loud bang.

"Now, get in there." Harry said as he sent a blast of magic at Clark sending him tumbling into the pool.

* * *

"The actual Goddess of Love?"

"Yes."

"From this universe?"

"Yes."

"And she said that Harry was considered an 'Avatar' of Love?'

"_Yes!"_

Lorna didn't think she could be any clearer in explaining it to Chloe and Lana but Chloe just had to question and verify.

"Can we get back to the part where she kissed my boyfriend?" Lana asked with narrowed eyes.

"Relax, Lana." Dani piped up. "All the Love Gods are like that. Back home Aphrodite and Venus greeted everyone they liked with a snog. It took Scott and Steve years before they got used to it."

"Who is Steve? You haven't mentioned him." Chloe asked.

Scott took up that question. "Steve Rogers. He died many years ago. In our world he was considered the first superhero. He was a good man and a close friend. Despite the fact that Harry made him the worlds top cop."

"He was always a little sore over that." Emma mused with a smirk.

"Why? It sounds like a prestigious position." Chloe pointed out.

"It was. But Steve was a man who fought on the front lines of World War II. He refused to send a team member or soldier to do something he wouldn't do himself. The position of Top Cop was more of a desk job or command posting. It took him out of the action." Scott explained.

"Harry later rotated him out though and made sure that no one was stuck in that sort of job." Lorna added.

"Can we go back to the part where Aphrodite kissed my boyfriend?"

"Lana let it go. You should feel honoured." Dani said highly amused. "Your boyfriend has been recognised by the gods themselves."

"She's right." Harry said as he sat down between Lorna and Phoebe. "The kiss she gave Clark was one of recognition. She marked him as a potential equal amongst the gods."

"Clark as a god?" Chloe scoffed jokingly. "I think I hear Armageddon coming."

"He wouldn't be the first god I've met who started as a human. Hercules was a half mortal who ascended to godhood. Bruce Banner was a pure mortal who through chance and circumstance rose to challenges.

"But Lana, there is a more important piece of information I got from Aphrodite." Harry said slowly. "She said that Clark was eternal. He won't die and he won't need me to send him on. I don't know what that will mean for his relationships, I don't know if bonding your souls would grant you his immortality just as the phoenix essence grants it to the other mortals in my family.

"My own immortality is not shareable. Many of my soul mates, before I came to Lorna's world, died and left me. So far, only bonding to a Phoenix grants it to others."

"So?" She didn't understand what Harry was getting at. She already knew Clark would outlive her, just as Harry would.

"Aphrodite was subtle, but she implied that Clark would be involved in my work as an Avatar of Love. Clark is already my apprentice of sorts. It makes sense that he will become further embroiled in my work. She did this by appearing to both myself _and_ Clark. She could easily have waited until I was alone."

"I believe what Harry is saying, and quite badly, is that Clark may find himself with soul bonds, like Harry has." Emma said with a small scowl at Harry.

"You mean he's going to break up with me?" She asked suddenly very timid.

"Not necessarily. It all depends on two things." Jean warned. "First, can Clark cope with sharing himself amongst others in that fashion? Second, can you cope with sharing Clark?"

"Clark is going to have multiple girlfriends, Lana." Phoebe said softly.

"Chances are that outside forces will take away his choice in this matter." Celeste continued.

"The question will be, can you cope with this if he is to be your boyfriend? Can you support him?" Mindee finished.

"I-I-…" Lana wasn't sure what to say or what to think. She felt as though she had been told her relationship with Clark was already over."

"Wait, what do you mean his choice will be taken away?" Chloe asked seriously. She harboured a crush for Clark, but having become close to Lana she wanted to respect their choices. "You make it sound like he will be dosed with love potions and I know you don't approve of those."

"Everybody here apart from Scott and Jean has what could be considered an artificial soul bond." Harry explained. "I created the soul bonds myself. Jean and Scott's developed naturally. Clark's soul mate or soul _mates_ could be out there waiting till they find each other. There isn't much of a choice involved in those instances, the souls themselves take control."

"You mean they will be forced to love each other?" Chloe asked.

"No, yes… it really is too hard to explain."

"The two parties will feel drawn to each other and it will hurt if they are not at the very least friends. But the soul bond will encourage more than friendship, unless there is a pre-established familial bond." Amara explained. "That is what it was like for me."

"I think I need to go home." Lana said suddenly as she stood up.

"Your aunt has company, remember?" Lorna said softly. "You are more than welcome here."

"I… I just…"

"Do you want to come and stay at my house?" Chloe offered. "My dad will leave us alone… although he might poison us with breakfast." She grimaced.

Lana just nodded.

Phoebe stood and Lana's overnight bag appeared in her hands. "Here, just remember you can talk to us at anytime."

Lana nodded numbly before Chloe led her off.

"Do you think she'll stay with him?" Dani asked sadly when the girls were gone.

"In the short term… I'm not sure." Jean said softly. "Lana Lang isn't mentally ready to handle our kind of relationships."

"Jean Dear, _Clark_ is not ready to handle them." Emma rolled her eyes.

"I'm more worried about Clark handling his girlfriends being with another person." Scott said seriously. "It took me a long time before I was comfortable with Jean or Emma joining Harry or Logan."

"It took you just as long to allow us to join you." Dani smirked.

"You still don't let us join you." Phoebe pouted on behalf of the triplets and Laura.

"I don't think either of us is interested in that type of a relationship." Scott said with a knowing smile. It was unspoken but clearly evident that Scott was like a father figure to the younger members of Harry's bonded.

"What are we going to do about this supposed new girl of Harry's?" Mindee asked.

"I'll have to make a trip to Bermuda soon. I'll take Clark and possibly Lana and Chloe as well. It will be a good learning experience for them." Harry said.

"Better make it soon, Sweetheart." Lorna warned. "It isn't polite to keep the gods waiting."

* * *

Harry had a problem, or at least a worry. Brunhilde had been absent for several days. She hadn't been seen by any of the girls or Scott.

Deciding to deal with this he teleported straight to her. He was fairly surprised to find her in the lab with Clark's ship.

"Hilde, what are you doing here?"

"Harry! You startled me!" She said breathlessly.

Harry frowned. Brunhilde was a trained warrior, she was the one who trained the other girls due to her thousands of years extra experience as a Valkyrie. If she was startled by him then something was definitely distracting her.

"What are you doing? We haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been fighting with this arrogant piece of machinery. I'm tempted to have you bring The Vision back here to talk to it. Maybe show it the true meaning of artificial life." She said as she scowled at the ship.

"Why are you so focused on the ship?"

"I just felt Clark deserved some answers." Hilde sighed. "But neither I nor Laura have been able to crack the decryption. The only solution I can see is having Clark access the ship's systems."

"Then that's what we'll do. If that fails, Vision will be happy to help." Harry said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now, come on, you need to eat and rest. You've missed a whole bunch of stuff."

"That happens every time I blink when it comes to you, Husband." She snarked.

"How often do I get a personal visit from the god's of Olympus?" Harry challenged.

"On average? Approximately twice a week." She answered.

Harry froze at that. It had been so long since he had thought of Zeus and his people as gods of that nature. To him they were friends… arrogant friends, but still… friends.

"Right, but Aphrodite of this world introduced herself and told me that Love acknowledges me as her Avatar _and_ I have a gift waiting for me in the Bermuda Triangle."

Hilde stood and nodded. "Unusual yes, but still not within your top ten."

"Stop exaggerating!"

"Would you like me to list the top ten?" She teased.

"Yes, get on with ya wench."

"Let's see, at number ten we have…"

* * *

"Clark, I said no! It's far too expensive."

"It's my money! I saved all this time, I never buy anything that I don't need, my computer is second hand! This won't put a dent in my savings!" Clark argued with his father.

"Clark, what if you need that money later?" Martha tried to be the cool voice of between her hot-headed boys.

"Then I will make more. But can you honestly think of anything that we couldn't deal with between your magic and my powers?"

"What if we are audited or another tornado hits?" Jonathan challenged. "We would need money to rebuild, just like we did when the herd was poisoned."

Clark vanished in a gust of wind before reappearing. He calmly placed a clear crystal on the table. It was the size of a fist.

"Clark! Is that a diamond?"

"Man made, by me." Clark said, still surly. "Laura and Brunhilde have been training me to use my powers to make things like this. Originally Amara supplied the heat, but with my new heat vision I can now do it all myself."

"You really think it's ok to use your powers for monetary gain?" Jonathan challenged in disappointment.

"That depends, are you and mom going to stop using magic around the farm?" Clark smirked.

"That is-"

"He's right Jonathan. Every time we use our magic we are making a saving, whether it be on money, energy or time." Martha interrupted. "I know that Scott has been teaching Clark, Lana and Chloe about how to use magic and powers to earn a living. That's the way they started doing things in their world once Harry arrived."

"But this isn't their world!" Jonathan countered. "We don't have thousands of super beings running around."

"Harry says we will." Clark said softly. "He intends to bring Magic to this world, remember? He also says he is here because of a rise of a new breed of humans, like the mutants back where they came from."

"What if we conjured you a class ring?" Martha offered as she brought the conversation back to the beginning.

"It won't be the same. They keep a record of who bought a ring. I'm the star quarter-back, how will it look if they think I bought one under the table?"

"Urgh!" Jonathan groaned. "You're right, Clark. You're right." He said defeatedly.

"I am?" Clark hadn't expected his father to actually agree with him. Jonathan Kent was a stubborn as a dog with a bone; he had fully expected to have to go against his parents' wishes.

"Like you said, you are the star quarterback. That's not just a sporting position in high school; it's a position of social responsibility and example. And I will be the first to admit that you are doing an excellent job. Save your money son, we'll buy you the ring ourselves."

* * *

"Clark Kent, here you go." The student handling the distribution of rings said as he took the cheque and passed the ring over.

"Thanks." Clark smiled.

Clark opened the box and placed the ring on his finger. He felt a little dizzy for a moment before everything came rushing back in perfect clarity. He felt like he knew how to do anything, like the world was his oyster.

"Morning Clark." Lana smiled softly as she approached him. She was still a little wary after the previous nights revelations.

"Lana Lang, most beautiful girl in school." Clark breathed. He strode over grasping her in a tight embrace as he pressed his lips to hers.

Lana was so shocked he didn't have time to think. She and Clark had never shied away from public displays of affection but they had never been so brazen. She didn't realise that she was duelling Clark's tongue.

"Mr. Kent, Miss Lang."

Lana tried to break off the kiss at the sound of Principal Frosts stern tones. But Clark was stuck to her with suction.

There was a jolt as Frost placed a hand on Clark's shoulder sending a stinging hex through her hand.

"Ouch! What the hell?"

"Language, Mr. Kent. Now I have no problem with reasonable displays of affection but they must not interfere with your responsibilities and the school in general." She admonished. "Now, Miss Lang, this is Jessie Brooks, a transfer student. I would like you to show her around give her a feel for the school."

"Yes Miss Frost." Lana said quickly as she tried to control the blush she knew was over her face.

"Miss Brooks, you are in good hands." Emma said as she walked off.

Lana stood there for a moments as she tried to gather her thoughts.

"Are all the boys as hot as yours?" Jessie asked brazenly.

Lana's blush reappeared along with a hint of jealousy. The jealousy was quickly replaced with hurt and indignation as she saw Clark openly leering at Jessie.

"Clark!"

"What? Nothing wrong with appreciating the female form." Clark shrugged unapologetically.

"We'll see you later, Clark." She said angrily as she led Jessie off. She never noticed the inviting looks Jessie was giving Clark as they left.

Clark decided that school was not for him. He knew he was immortal so he had plenty of time to learn what he wanted. He could make money selling diamonds if he needed to. But there were some things he really wanted to do… _needed_ to do.

* * *

The sun had set and the group of men checked their weapons once more. The horses whinnied impatiently.

Their leader was in the only motorised vehicle. An old World War II era jeep. Their target was a village 500 metres away, it had recently received an aid package from one of the west's more affluent charities, they intended to claim the package for themselves. Then they would claim the women. Then they would raze the village and torture and mutilate the men and boys. The girls would be passed around as desired.

Suddenly the jeep came to life and the headlights flared. The riders lit their torches and hollered as they rode for the village and treasures it held.

As they stormed through the flimsy wall designed to keep out wild animals, they began setting fire to the fragile buildings forcing the occupants to flee. The men were shot in the legs and backs; they would be executed in front of the women later as a warning. The women were hit with the butt of their weapons.

An extreme gust of wind suddenly put out all the fires and the already cold night began to freeze as ice formed on the ground.

Everyone stopped, the screaming, the hollering… the violence… it all came to a standstill.

That's when they saw him.

The white man.

He was like a face floating in the darkness, his eyes glowing red, clad all in black.

A sound of sobbing broke the silence.

The white man turned to the source and saw a man standing over a young girl, not more than ten years old. She was stripped naked and his trousers were around his ankles.

The white man roared in anger before vanishing in a blur, the girl's attacker fell to the floor dead, his head ripped from his body.

The girl found herself wrapped in black material as the white man reappeared. Now his upper body was uncovered and it gleamed in the moonlight.

The leader of the attackers raised his gun and started shouting orders as he fired wildly at the white man.

The white man vanished in a blur.

* * *

"Lana, what brings you to my office, with a guest no less!" Harry smiled as the aforementioned girl knocked and walked in.

Harry was idly chatting with Dani when they arrived.

"This is Jessie Brooks, a transfer student. I finished the tour of the rest of the school and thought it would be a good idea to introduce her to the school doctor and student councillor." She smiled. It was a fairly tight smile as she found the rebellious girl to be rather abrasive, that and she was angry with her and Clark still.

"Good to meet you Miss Brooks. I'm the doctor, she's the councillor and part time nurse." Harry explained, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at Dani. "We can handle all of your regular medical needs straight from here as a free service to the school. It helps cut down on a families medical bills."

"Do I look like a charity case?" Jessie scoffed.

"Yes, but you also sound like one more." Harry said bluntly.

Lana, who was standing slightly behind Jessie closed her eyes and counted to ten. If Jessie wasn't bad enough, she had just introduced her to Harry Potter.

"You callin' me poor?" Jessie demanded.

"Not necessarily financially, but you are definitely lack something with that attitude." Harry said, his voice calm.

"I don't have to take this shit from you."

"We take a dim view on swearing in this school, Miss Brooks." Dani warned. "You will find yourself in detention if you don't control yourself."

"What a bunch of goddamned hypocritical narcs."

"Can I ask why you are so confrontational, Miss Brooks?" Dani asked.

"What are you scared of?" Harry asked suddenly.

"I ain't scared of nothing. You wanna take me on?" She challenged.

"Yes, I do." Harry said firmly. "You have a detention tonight with Miss Frost. I'll see you there straight after school."

"Whatever man." She said as she stormed out. She had no intention of actually attending the loser school anyway, especially as she hadn't seen that boy Clark again, now _there_ was a reason to stay in school.

Lana stared at the door Jessie had left through before glaring at Harry. "You had better tell Miss Frost the truth about what happened here. I am not getting blamed for it."

"Today is a really sucky day." Dani groaned. "Times like this I wish we had someone like Blindfold in the bond, they could warn us when we shouldn't get out of bed."

"And then you'd start complaining about all the extra work they give you." Harry countered.

He cast a glance at the door as someone knocked.

"Oh mercy. Time for you to save my ass, its Chandler again." Harry groaned as he pushed Dani to the door.

Dani smirked as her plan formed in her head and she opened the door. "Felice Chandler, yes?"

"Um… yes?" The Potter hungry teenager faltered at the sight of the older woman. "Is Doctor Potter here?"

"Oh yes, do come in." She said with a sultry smile. "Now, I hear you've been having chest and thigh pains, why don't you strip down and let me see if I can't find out the problem."

Felice gulped.

* * *

Brunhilde was once again standing in front of Clark's ship. It was a mystery to her. She had encountered far more advanced technology, she was sure. But she couldn't even get the ship to open up so she could access the innards. Harry had been adamant that they didn't let Clark near it until they removed its ability to interact with the world. Jonathan and Martha were in full agreement.

Much to Clark's annoyance.

Unfortunately the ship seemed to be encoded to only respond to Clark, or more specifically, Kal-El.

There was a gust of wind and Brunhilde was startled to find herself standing in the control room. She thought she might have accidentally teleported due to her fatigue. She checked the records but was shocked to see Clark in the lab glaring angrily at the ship and shouting at it.

He had hit the lockdown that kept everyone including magicals out. It took two people to override the lockdown and only Harry could brute force his way through.

* * *

Clark's rage was at epic levels. The things he had seen and done over the past year or so, in Gotham, Africa and here in Smallville, they had been affecting him and all the counselling in the world with Jean wasn't going to take it away. He had controlled his anger at what he saw and abided by Harry's advice and his own sense of morality. But something snapped today and he decided it was enough.

Now he wanted answers and this ship, this imposter claiming to be his father, had those answers.

"I am Kal-El of Krypton, you will answer my command or I will tear you apart and have you reprogrammed." Clark growled angrily.

"You must know your place, my son. You are not yet ready to begin issuing commands and making demands." The ship responded.

"I am _not_ your son. You are _not_ my father. You said it yourself; my birth father is dead. You are just a computer he built, and he must have been a fool to have given you so much power."

"The power I have is to help you attain your true destiny. It is inevitable that you reach it, the question is how."

"I have been taught that destiny is not written in stone. Besides, if there are different routes to this so-called 'destiny' then it is _my_ choice as to how I get there."

"You are too young and immature to make that decision."

"He's older than I was when I had to decide."

Clark didn't flinch as he heard Harry's voice behind him.

"I trust Clark. He has proven himself time and again. He might be my apprentice, but he is an equal amongst adults. It is only the relationships of teacher and parent that set him apart."

"You have no say in this." The ship stated.

"I believe the time for patience has ended." Harry said firmly. "Clark has waited long enough and will wait no longer. We will return, and when we do, you will obey or be dismantled."

Harry placed a hand on Clark's shoulder and stunned him before teleporting out.

* * *

"Do we know what happened to him?" Emma asked.

The usual suspects were gathered around the bed in the infirmary where Clark Kent lay unconscious as Harry worked on speeding up his internal systems to try and get the red kryptonite energy out of his body. The only ones missing were Chloe and Lana, Chloe was trying to calm a still angry Lana down.

"The stone in his class ring was made from a different type of meteor rock." Jean explained. "Instead of killing him, it affected his mind."

"Do we know how?" Jonathan asked.

"His inhibitions were completely destroyed." Jean scowled.

"You mean the same as the Nicodemus plant?" Martha asked worriedly.

"Yes, but Clark… Clark is a unique individual. We have been exposing him to some pretty nasty stuff. He did some things and we aren't sure how he will cope."

"What things, what did my son do, Jean?" Martha demanded.

"He killed a band of marauders who where killing, raping and pillaging a village in Africa." Harry said sternly. "Clark Kent was never meant to kill. This is my responsibility as I failed to protect him from this."

"Oh god!" Martha gasped as she collapsed into a chair.

"Why would he kill?" Jonathan asked, still not believing.

"Just because his inhibitions were removed doesn't mean his personality was. Clark saw them killing and raping and all those victims I introduced him to over the past few weeks came flooding back and he wanted to stop it. His rage combined with no longer caring about the consequences meant that he acted with finality." Harry lectured. "This was in no way his fault, just as it was in no way your fault that you decided to feel up Amara whilst under the Nicodemus plant's thrall or Lex deciding to get married like that under Desiree's."

"We understand that perfectly." Martha said firmly.

"Good, because knowing Clark, that is going to be the easy part, the hard part will be getting _him_ to accept it." Jean scowled.

"I'm wondering if maybe we should send him to Japan." Scott said cryptically. When the girls and Harry looked at him he added. "He's not just… what he is, he's dealt with what Clark's about to go through."

"No, we can handle this ourselves. He wants his vacation and I intend to see to it that he gets it. He'd do the same for any of us." Harry said firmly.

"We can handle this. I have experienced this sort of thing after my Phoenix rampages." Jean offered.

"So did I, after I went bad." Lorna added.

There was a collective look towards Emma by the castle residents.

She simply raised an eyebrow and stated. "I never had a problem with my actions. They were well thought out and I knew the risks and consequences."

This was followed by a collective snort and smirk by the castle residents.

"Ok, the best thing we can do is try and not overwhelm Clark when I wake him. In other words, you lot clear out." Harry ordered. "Especially you two." He pointed at Jonathan and Martha when they looked to object. "Clark will likely be running on guilt and it won't matter what the expression on your face is, he will still only see judgement and disappointment."

"You will tell-"

"Exactly how you feel. And that you understand it was out of his control." Harry assured Martha.

The group sombrely walked out of the infirmary leaving Harry and Clark alone.

Harry laid a hand on Clark's head gently woke him.

Harry was saddened to see Clark crying even before he fully regained awareness. Soon sobs were racking his powerful body as he curled into a ball.

Harry just sat there, waiting for him to work it through his system. At this moment in time he didn't need words and platitudes. He didn't need physical comfort and assurances that he was not at fault. He needed to work through the emotional pain of what had happened so that he could come through the other side ready to face logic and reason.

It was twenty minutes later that the sobs and wails quietened. Clark began to rest as he breathing evened out.

"It's time we talked, my young apprentice." Harry said softly. "Turn and face me."

With a wooden numbness Clark obeyed. He was resigned to whatever fate Death had planned for him. He deserved all of it.

"Tell me what happened."

"You already know, please don't make me repeat it." Clark begged.

"It is not a matter of what I know, Clark. It is a matter of you acknowledging what has happened. This was a dark day for you." Harry said emotionlessly. "Now, tell me what happened."

Over the course of the following half an hour Clark told the details of what he had done to Harry. Harry would stop him every now and again and have him explain in more detail about something he did. How he felt at the time, and how he felt about it now.

Eventually he finished with telling Harry about how and why he broke into the lab to confront Jor-El.

"Good, you made it through quite well." Harry said, his voice still soft yet firm and no emotion revealed.

"When I was younger than you, I was captured by a cruel and sadistic man. He wanted me dead, he wanted me to suffer. He needed me for a magical ritual that required his blood. His servant was just as cruel and sadistic as he was and the servant, whilst I was bound to a gravestone, slowly cut off my hand whilst I was still awake."

Clark's head snapped up, his face pale.

"It was an event that so traumatised me that even to this day, millions of years later, it still affects me. I was rescued soon after, but that night my dad came to me and brought a device we used to use to view memories in. He made me go through the memory with him. He made me watch as my arm was cruelly removed."

"Wh-wh-why?" Clark asked, horrified that a father could do that.

"To help me confront my terrors, to face it with an analytical mind. It helped, to a degree. I became much stronger. I still suffered; I experienced night terrors and panic attacks. But in the end it was the catalyst for one of the greatest things my world ever knew… the power to re-grow limbs.

"Now, Clark, what happened to you today was not your fault. I am telling you this as a fellow sentient being, the Master of Magic, an Avatar of Love and, perhaps most importantly… Death.

"And I will tell you with the same authority that I do not condemn your actions. I have, perhaps, become too lax in my duties. You should never have killed those people for the very simple reason that _I_ should have killed them months ago."

Clark grimaced at that. Killing was reprehensible to him. He had devoted himself to preventing people from dying.

"You have my sincerest apologies as Death for failing to protect you from the act of killing, Clark Kent. I always intended to expose you to the necessity of death, but you were never meant to kill."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Clark looked up.

"What happens to me now?"

"You get a new topic added to your counselling sessions with Jean. You, me and the others will take a more pro-active approach to Africa and finally… we get aggressive with Robo-Dad."

"Robo-Dad?"

"The ship." Harry smirked.

Clark couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"What about a trial, my punishment?"

Harry scoffed dismissively. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, until someone with more power and authority declares themselves, I'm it. And I have judged you non compos mentis… or to simplify: Out of your bleedin' mind! You hold no guilt and therefore no punishment is applicable."

"There has to be something." Clark argued.

"Fine, you will spend the remainder of your week day evenings in Africa assisting me as I hunt down and kill every last marauding bastard in Africa."

Clark looked green and about to protest.

"Hey, you wanted a punishment. This is it. You aren't supposed to like or approve of your punishments."

* * *

Laura was not pleased, she had been in charge of detention this evening and she had had to miss being there for Clark. Of all her family, she was the one who had the most experience in dealing with having committed heinous acts and then realising what she had done. It was a side effect of what had happened when Harry had joined her soul to his.

What made it worse was that one student hadn't turned up and now she had to go and track them down or talk to their parents. Jessie Brooks was the new student and she had an attitude that rubbed everyone the wrong way. She was the type of student who believed she was entitled to everything and not obligated to follow the rules.

Having spent the better part of her life as the equivalent of a cop this did not sit well with Laura. She reached up and knocked on the door.

A middle-aged, balding man who only opened the door a little bit soon answered it.

"Mr. Brooks? Father of Jessie Brooks?"

"Yes?" The man admitted nervously.

"Hi, I'm Coach Kinney from the High School. I need to talk to you and Jessie about her truancy and behaviour."

"But it's her first day!" He said pulling the door closer.

"Yes." Laura drawled. "And for the hour or so she was there she managed to insult several teachers and students and land herself in detention. Which she then decided to not show up for. Hence my arrival here. May I come in?"

"Jessie isn't here right now." Mr. Brooks was beginning to sweat.

"Do you know where she is and when she will be back?" Laura asked pointedly.

"I-er… tomorrow?"

"You are aware that your daughter is a minor, Mr. Brooks? You have a responsibility."

The door was suddenly wrenched open and a new taller and fitter man stood there holding a gun.

"Get in here." He ordered as he pointed the gun at her.

Laura sighed. This was not turning out to be a good day.

"No." She said simply.

"I said get in here!"

"No."

"I will shoot you." He warned.

"Go ahead. Alert the whole neighbourhood. That will bring the Sheriff here and some other people that might be interested in why you shot me." She smiled.

"You think you're so smart?" The man sneered. He reached behind his back and pulled out a large knife. Now get in here or I swear I will gut you."

Laura's smile morphed in to a wicked grin. She stated quite succinctly in a perfect Australian accent: "Tha's not a knife, _this_ is a knife!" She popped a single claw. "These are my other knives." She declared in the same accent as she popped all her other claws.

* * *

Laura tiredly walked up the stairs to the top of the astronomy tower, she was exhausted having paralysed the man holding the Brooks hostage with his own knife and then calling the Sheriff whilst altering the memories of Mr. Brooks and Jessie so they wouldn't remember her claws, then having to deal with the Sheriff's questions and the US Marshalls office when the attacker turned out to be one of them.

The only good thing to come out of it was that she had scared Jessie to death and she had absolutely no intention of skipping school if it kept Coach Kinney from coming near her with knives.

Now she just wanted to sit on the top of the tower and stare at the stars for a bit.

Only the tower was already occupied.

"Good evening Clark." She said as she conjured a couple of recliners to lie back in.

"I'm really not up to talking now, Laura." Clark said quietly.

"Good, because I didn't come to talk, I came to look at the stars." She said as she sank back in to the soft chair with a groan.

The silence would have been nice for Laura except she could practically feel Clark trying not to ask something.

She popped a claw and made a mark on the nearby stonewall. That was one.

She saw Clark flinch and she smirked. Only the Cuckoos knew what she did up here, nobody bothered to ask simply because they assumed it was private. Which it was in a way. It was a way to unwind.

Another scratch, that made two.

"What are you doing?" Clark asked slightly exasperated.

"Keeping count." She muttered. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to continue."

"Why haven't you said anything?"

Yep, she knew this would happen. Couldn't enjoy a nice night of star gazing today.

"Would it honestly help if I did?" She asked flatly.

"Not really."

"Do you honestly believe I hold you responsible?"

Clark sighed. "No, I don't think you do."

"Then take it from someone who has been in a similar yet worse situation that only time will bring an end to the misery, friends and family are all well and good but they only keep you sane, they don't take away the pain."

"Wait… what do you mean a worse situation?" Clark asked as he turned to face her.

"Were you created in a test tube from stolen DNA for the sole purpose of killing others without a conscience? Did you spend what childhood you had killing and assassinating people? And then, after all those years, after finding a new path you meet someone who gives you that conscience and it forces you to relive every murder except this time, you regret every single one?"

An answer wasn't expected and an answer wasn't given. Silence settled for a short time.

"It gets better?"

"If you are patient."

"Thank you Laura."

"You're welcome Clark."

A comfortable silence fell.

The there was a third scrape.

"For the love of- what _are_ you doing?"

"Counting shooting stars, now shut up and let me enjoy, my record is twenty-three and I want to try and beat it."

* * *

Things only got worse for Clark. The following day Lana broke up with him and his already fragile emotional state collapsed. He stayed at home and his parents did not say a word.

Chloe and the Cuckoos were furious at Lana as they confronted her in the Torch Office.

"You know what he just went through, why would you choose this moment of all the available ones to do something like that to him?" Chloe demanded.

"I thought it would be better to get it out of the way, if I waited till he was better he would have just slipped back into whatever depression he got out of." She argued tearfully.

"Of course now he probably thinks you broke up with him because of what he did in Africa and that you think he _is_ a murderer." Mindee sneered.

"Why would he think that?" She asked in confusion.

"Why _wouldn't _he?!" Mindee demanded. "What reason did you give him?"

"I just told him that I needed some time apart." Lana shrugged with a frown. It was a standard line and it worked in television and the movies so it seemed appropriate to her.

"Dear god, and I thought you were intelligent." Mindee groaned.

Lana was confused. Forget the fact that she was beginning to understand what they were getting at; she couldn't understand why only Mindee was talking. Phoebe and Celeste simply stood by the door impassively.

Mindee just scowled at her. "You wouldn't be able to handle all three of us angry at you right now, Lana. Be glad it's only me."

* * *

Clark was brooding. That's what he was calling it. Harry called it moping, sulking and being a baby. But he knew he was only teasing and it did make him feel slightly better. Harry had told him quite bluntly that he was only fifteen and he had another couple of thousand years before he completely lost his chance with Lana. In that time he had the opportunity to see if there was someone even better.

Clark had nearly laid into Harry for suggesting that there was anyone better than Lana Lang. But he couldn't find it in himself to defend her.

"Clark?"

He spun around at the voice he both loved and loathed at the moment. Standing at the top of the stairs to the barn loft was Lana Lang, looking as radiant as ever in simple jeans and a blouse.

Clark ruthlessly buried the hope that she was here to tell him she had made a mistake and was affected by some mysterious plant.

"Hey Lana. I… I thought we weren't going to see each other for a bit." He said morosely.

Lana stepped closer and sat on the couch. "That's what I'd like, just for a few days, I still want to be friends Clark." She winced, that was the most hurtful thing a person could say to someone they were breaking up with. She hated that look on Clark's face.

"I… I really like you Clark." She said hesitantly. "I thought we could have a future together. I never thought about it with Whitney but in the time we were dating I never realised I was looking at the chores your mom and dad were doing and trying to learn them for when we would run the farm."

Clark frowned and sat on the edge of the open windowsill. He didn't say anything, he figured Lana had a purpose for saying these things; he wanted to know what he did wrong.

"Do you remember what the first thing you did was after you put on the ring?"

Clark blushed. "I kissed you."

Lana smiled softly. "Yes, but…the second thing you did was openly flirt with Jessie. Right there in front of me."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not blaming you, Clark. Mindee says she was surprised you didn't seek out every attractive woman you knew and seduce them." She chuckled glibly. "It made me angry, I didn't know you weren't yourself. But even after I found out the truth, it made me realise something. I'm not the sort of person who can share the man she loves."

"I don't understand. I still think Jessie and others are attractive, but I don't have any… I guess you could say 'active interest' in them." Clark told her.

"I know. But the other day, the girls were telling me more about what it meant for you when you met and kissed Aphrodite."

"She kissed me!" Clark protested.

"I know! That wasn't my point." She said hastily. "It wasn't the fact that there _was_ a kiss, it was what the kiss meant. About how you are likely to have soul mates."

"I am?" Clark asked completely confused. "Who said that?"

"Harry and the others."

"Just because Aphrodite kissed me?"

"It has to do with her acknowledging you as Harry's apprentice in everything including his duties as an Avatar of Love."

"I didn't know that." Clark said blankly. It was a bit of a shock. He wondered briefly why Harry hadn't told him.

"Oh." Lana said worriedly. No one had said it was a secret and they were talking quite openly about it.

"So… because I _might_ have a soul mate that I _might_ one day meet you are breaking up with me _now_?" Clark asked slowly.

"I know it sounds like I'm jumping the gun a bit, but it just felt like I was stuck in a relationship that was doomed from the beginning. Every day I wondered if today was the day I would lose you."

"And that is your first mistake." Came a sweet melodious voice.

Clark merely stood and bowed as Aphrodite appeared between Clark at the window and Lana on the couch.

Lana quickly stood and also bowed. She grimaced slightly as Aphrodite lifted Clark's chin softly kissed his lips, but was surprised when she kissed her own cheek.

"You are blessed Lana Lang. Blessed because of those who have chosen you as a friend." The goddess said softly so only she could hear. "Please, sit."

Clark sat a bit stiffly on the window ledge as Aphrodite reclined on the couch and Lana sat uncomfortably on the edge.

Aphrodite laughed musically. "Relax, we are simply talking, there is no need for formality."

"It is good to see you again." Clark said hesitantly.

"And it is good to see you, Clark Kent." Aphrodite smiled. "I came because of the pain I felt from you both." She explained. "There is much love between you and the potential for much more."

Clark looked a bit more hopeful.

"But Lana is correct. She is not ready for a relationship with you Clark. She is not ready to share her beloved."

Clark's hope was popped like a balloon.

"But that does not mean she will never be ready." She said with a mysterious smile. "Love is infinite in its capacity. My advice to you both is to enjoy your childhood. Find love where you can and comfort in each other when you need it. One day you may find yourselves committed to each other for eternity. Or you may decide that you are better off as friends. The only thing I ask you to both remember is that neither of you has any desire to hurt the other."

"Don't you _know_ if we are meant to be together?" Lana asked without malice.

"My place is not to determine who will love whom but nurture love where it exists. There is love between you and that is why I can speak on this matter with you."

"What about the soul mates Harry has, the bonds in the Bermuda Triangle?" Clark asked.

"That is a unique bond which Love told me about and part of the gift that Love has contributed to with the gods. But not even the gods and goddesses of Love have the ability to see the soul bonds. Those are the domain of Death alone."

Lana frowned. "But aren't those bonds built on love?"

"No, we do not know how or why they came to be, we only know that love occurs because of them. Perhaps one day Lord Death will discover the reason and then we will know. I, and some of my fellow deities, firmly believe that soul bonds are a creation of Lord Death. We simply have no proof, merely the knowledge that souls are his domain."

"He's as close to a Creator of the Universe as you can get, isn't he?" Clark asked carefully.

Aphrodite frowned. "He is the only known being that has been acknowledged by other Aspects and deities. But all of us believe there is someone or something higher than us. Something that may have created the Aspects or guided their creation.

"But to put it in a way you might find more useful: Harry Potter is the highest ranking being known in existence."

"Lovely." Clark said sarcastically. "The fate of the universe rests in the hands of one man and that man is nuts."

Aphrodite giggled. "Now Clark, that's not true. He's just a little eccentric. He's seen the rise and fall of man and will see it many times to come." She instantly turned serious, something that mildly shocked the two teenagers. "But more importantly, it does not rest in his hands but in ours. His job is not to keep the world safe for us, his job is to merely to step in when we can not do it ourselves."

"We need to think and work for ourselves." Lana summed up.

"Exactly." Aphrodite smiled as she rose, Clark and Lana joining her respectfully. "I will leave you now with one piece of insight. Nobody is _meant_ to find the one they truly love at so young an age, it simply happens. Don't try and force it between the two of you when you have thousands of years to decide the matter."

With that she vanished, leaving Clark and Lana alone in the loft.

Lana was a little worried to see Clark grinning at her.

"What?" She asked warily.

"We were just told there is hope for us. The Goddess of Love herself told us we love each other."

Lana sighed. "It doesn't change the way I feel now, Clark."

He kept grinning. "She said I just need to be patient. I waited for you for years… I can wait some more." Clark stood up and headed for the stairs. "See ya later Lana."

Lana rolled her eyes. As she stood and made to leave she couldn't help the smile that crept on to her lips.


	19. Chapter 19

Standing in the castle's lab were Laura, Clark, Harry, Scott and Lorna. Watching from the control room were Martha, Lex and Jonathan.

"Ok, what's the plan?" Lorna asked.

"First we try something oh so simple." Harry said. "Clark, order it to reveal it's true purpose."

"What do you mean?" Clark frowned.

"Whoever built this thing wanted to make sure you would be cared for. I highly doubt that they intended for it to run your life. It might be programmed to respond to your orders."

Clark nodded. "Ship, what is your true purpose?"

"I was created to ensure you rise to your destiny."

"What is that supposed destiny?"

"To rule mankind and save them from themselves and what is to come."

Clark became angry at that but Scott put a hand on his arm. "What exactly is to come?"

The ship was silent.

"Answer him." Clark ordered.

The ship was silent.

"I order you to answer him!" Clark said heatedly.

"I was worried about that." Laura said. "It was giving out the easy information. It wasn't answering because Clark ordered it, it simply gave the information that it wanted to."

"Looks like we do this the hard way." Lorna smirked. With a gesture she raised the ship off the ground and it began to spin as she tested it with her powers of magnetism. "Harry, Sweetie, shield me whilst I rip this thing apart." She requested.

Harry moved forward to kneel in front of Lorna where he threw up a vibranium shield that pulsed with energy in a dome over the ship. There was an opening right in front of Lorna where she could see and access the ship.

Clark moved slightly behind Lorna so he could see into the ship, he wanted a better view so he easily catch any debris that made it through.

The ship lit up as its systems came to life in response to the threat. The engines began to hum but it was caught in the firm grip of Polaris.

"You aren't going anywhere, Bub." Lorna growled.

Scott sighed in exasperation as Laura giggled. If anyone had rubbed off on the group more than Harry, it was Logan.

There was a screech of metal as the ship began to tear apart. Jonathan, Martha and Lex cringed at the horrible noise.

"You cannot halt destiny." The voice of the ship droned calmly. "Your time will come my son. You must rise up and take this world."

"Sweetie, please make the toy calculator stop talking." Laura asked Lorna with a fake smile.

"As you wish." She responded without looking away, but a smile graced her lips.

Harry placed a hand on Lorna and began feeding her power, increasing her strength. The ship suddenly began to peel like a banana.

Then everything stopped.

The ship became immobile as it floated in various pieces inside the dome.

Harry dispelled the dome and Lorna lowered the dismantled ship to the ground.

"Well that was fun!" Harry grinned at Clark.

Clark felt he had no other choice than to roll his eyes.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Laura practically squealed in delight, which was fairly out of character for the usually stoic woman. "I have to get Hilde!" She declared before she vanished.

Harry stepped forward amongst the remains of the ship and retrieved two pieces. "Need to keep these separate otherwise we might have to repeat that again." He said as he showed them the Heart and the Key.

"But it won't work without them." Clark pointed out.

"Sure it will, we just have to figure out _how_ they work."

* * *

Clark was having a hard time emotionally. He was coming to grips with his actions under red Kryptonite but dealing with losing Lana was harder. Especially as she seemed to have a secret admirer leaving her notes at her parents graves. Lex had been impressed with the poetic love notes but Clark was worried. He was jealous and he knew it, but he couldn't help it. It also didn't sit well with him that they were being left anonymously at her parent's graves.

The Cuckoos had promised him that they were keeping an eye on things.

Clark was currently running drills with the rest of the football team unaware that a pair of startling blue eyes that held immense power was watching him. The being was most impressed with Clark's skill and control.

When Clark exited the locker room after practice he froze at the sight of the tall muscled man with long blonde hair standing in front of him in a tight t-shirt and jeans. The expression on the man's face was… a cheeky grin.

"Thor?"

"Greetings young Clark."

"What are you doing here? I mean… you are Harry's Thor right?" Clark asked carefully.

"I am the one who soundly beat you at poker, young friend." Thor laughed as he slapped Clark heartily on the back.

Even with his super abilities, Clark definitely felt the slap.

"But why are you here? I didn't think you travelled between worlds."

"I have been known to traverse the corridors of space and time when occasion calls." Thor admitted as he and Clark walked out of the school. Both males attracted the eyes of many a young woman. "But Sif was eager to see her father and Scott and Jean's daughter offered to bring us."

"Oh… so you are just here for a family visit… no monsters and the like heading our way."

"You have fought monsters?" Thor asked eagerly. "What foul beasts do you have in this world and where might one go to slay them?"

"I… No! No beasts… that I know of. Just regular super powered humans." Clark said hastily. The last thing he needed was the God of Thunder rampaging through Smallville.

"A shame." Thor was clearly disappointed. "But it will be good to spar with the Valkyrie again, and you as well young warrior. I am eager to see how your training has progressed."

At this point they had reached the edge of the school grounds and Clark realised that he had no way of getting Thor back to the castle.

"Erm… did you bring a car?"

Thor just looked at him in amusement. "I am the God of Thunder, I have never needed a car."

"How did you get here then?"

"Rachel delivered me here first before she and Sif went in search of their parents."

"Oh… well, thank goodness." Clark muttered as he spotted Chloe's car still parked in on the grounds. "Follow me, my friend owns that car, hopefully she can give us a lift to the castle."

"How would you normally get home?" Thor asked.

"I run. Very fast."

"As fast as a god?" He asked curiously.

"I can out run Brunhilde. People can't really see me when I run because I am just a blur."

"Ah, a speedster. Make your own way home, Clark. I will provide my own transport." He said as he pulled out his Hammer from seemingly nowhere.

"You can teleport?"

"I can fly… after a fashion."

"Oh, but what if people see you?"

"I am a god Clark, people only see me if I want them to see me." He said as he began swinging his hammer.

Clark took a step back as a heavy wind blew up around them. He glanced around nervously but fortunately nobody seemed to be paying attention.

Suddenly Thor swung his hammer up allowing it to drag him with it.

Clark looked on fairly impressed. He took another glance around him to make sure no one was looking before he shot off into the air in pursuit.

Thor was fairly surprised to find Clark flying next to him. He didn't bother trying to speak at the high altitude and speed but he did give the boy a grin and a nod.

It wasn't long before they reached the castle and touched down at the front of the castle.

Clark knocked on the door and waited until a very confused Lorna opened it.

"Clark… why is he here?"

"Erm… he followed me home?"

"Actually, young Clark, you followed _me_ home."

"And how exactly did you get here? Your abilities to travel between the worlds on your own are usually haphazard at best."

"Rachel Summers brought myself and Sif so that we could visit family."

Lorna turned back to Clark. "How much damage has he caused?" She asked.

"No physical damage but I did see a lot of girls staring at him."

Thor puffed up his chest proudly.

"Don't make me tell your wife, buddy!" Lorna poked him in the chest. "Now get in here." She grabbed his shirt and dragged him inside.

Clark sighed and followed. Then a hopeful smile crossed his face. Maybe he wouldn't have to suffer his training today.

* * *

Harry was reviewing some paperwork that needed to be filed with the local government regarding his medicine stocks in the school, all very important and all very boring. He smiled when a pair of hands covered his eyes.

"Guess-"

"Hello Sif, what brings you to this neck of the woods."

The hands were removed and Harry turned to see his longest surviving daughter pouting at him. "How did you know?"

"You, my beautiful little girl, are part of me. Not in the same way as with your mother but we have a small connection. I always know when you are close."

"Then how come you couldn't always find me when we played-" She stopped and scowled at his cheeky grin. "You let me win?!"

Harry pulled her onto his lap and she eagerly burrowed her face in his neck. "That's what parents do for their children. If we never let you win then you wouldn't understand why winning is so much fun."

"All my childhood memories crushed." She sighed dramatically.

"So, how did you get here?" Harry asked.

Before she could answer Emma Frost slammed the door open and stormed in, not a stitch of clothing on her.

"I didn't think this world was ready for casual nudity." Sif remarked.

"It is not." Emma ground out. "I assume you were brought here by Rachel Summers?"

"Ye- Oh!" She gasped as she realised what had happened. "I forgot she still holds a grudge against you."

"Even the Cuckoos and Dani are never this childish." Emma spat.

"Emma… why did she do that to you?" Harry asked. "I would have thought she would have gone to see Scott or Jean first."

"I was talking to Scott outside my office when he vanished along with my apparel in a column of fire."

"That would do it." Harry nodded. Even after all these millennia Rachel still held a grudge against Emma for trying to seduce Scott whilst her mother was still alive.

"Who else came with you?" He asked his daughter.

"Just my husband. He wanted to see how Clark was doing, he seems quite impressed with your new apprentice."

"_You_ will be quite impressed by what your father has achieved." Emma smirked.

"You mean his acknowledgement by the Aspect of Love?" Sif smiled happily. "Aphrodite and Venus held a three day orgy to celebrate!"

"Uh huh… and how many people attended?" Harry asked.

"Mainly the Greeks." She admitted.

"Come on, let's go find Dani and Laura and head home." Harry said as he helped Sif off his lap. "Erm… Emma, your clothes?"

"My _darling_ step-daughter has put some form of charm on me. I can no longer conjure my clothes. I am currently projecting a mental illusion of clothes."

"Well… I'll talk to her." Harry said as he examined her for the charm. "In the meantime I quite like the view."

* * *

The family reunions at the castle were a joyous time. Clark was roped into introducing his parents to the three latest dimensional travellers. Rachel was fairly subdued as Jean had laid into her for what she did to Emma. The other girls soon brought her out of it though.

They were settling down to a large meal when they were interrupted by a flash of fire that deposited a stunning ebony haired woman on the table with a gold and red bird on her shoulder.

Everyone was silent as the woman looked around until her eyes settled on Thor.

"You bastard! How could you come and see Uncle Harry without me?!" She hissed as she stomped along the table towards the now quickly backing away God of Thunder.

"Sweetie, kick his ass later." Harry called out. "Come and give me a hug instead."

The woman froze before snarling at Thor one last time before she literally vanished like a hologram before reappearing on Harry's lap, the bird flew to his shoulder.

"I miss you Uncle Harry." She sighed.

"I miss you too, Loki." He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around his goddaughter. "Missed me already, eh Fawkes?" He teased the bird.

"Martha, Jonathan, this is Loki, Thor's adopted sister and Harry's goddaughter." Brunhilde explained from her seat next to her daughter Sif. "The bird is Fawkes, he was with Harry when he grew up as a boy."

The bird gave a few squawks and chirps before leaping into the air and vanishing in a burst of flame.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I swear he needs to get laid more." Her mother promptly swatted her on the head.

Martha frowned. "Forgive my ignorance, but wasn't Loki male in the legends?"

"Indeed." Thor agreed. "Due to poor choices of myself and my family and on Loki's part, he became completely reckless and caused untold destruction and chaos. But when Uncle Harry discovered what he had become and that she had stolen the body of my beloved Sif, he forced her to revert to a baby. Harry took a more active role in raising her along with Harry's soul mates."

Martha, Jonathan and Clark were just sitting there. It was evident from their expressions that they were having trouble processing this.

Loki just smirked. "This body was never male. It was originally my sister-in-law's. I did not have a 'sex change'." She said with air quotes.

"Just a body swap." Dani grinned.

"But why is your hair black and Sif's blonde?" Clark asked curiously. Genetics had always interested him since he was adopted, he was curious as to what his birth parents looked like.

"When I was originally a young man I cut off Sif's blonde hair. Our father, Odin, commissioned Dwarves to enchant the finest replacements."

"Where did your body come from?" Martha asked Sif.

"Daddy created it from DNA from the body Loki possesses. But that meant my hair was back to its true Asgardian Blonde." She said proudly. It had always been a sore point for her that Loki's actions as a man had meant she no longer looked like a true Aesir.

"Can I ask a personal question, Loki?" Clark asked nervously. He had already met her at the poker game but had refrained from questioning his fellow player's personal lives. But considering his parents were asking fairly personal questions, he figured it couldn't hurt.

"Of course handsome!" She smiled flirtatiously.

Clark blushed, especially as the other diners were smirking at him. "Do you remember being a man?"

Loki frowned thoughtfully. "I can remember the actions I took as a man. Uncle Harry revealed them to me over time, although they verbally told me of my misdeeds. But I don't, for example, remember what it is like to piss like a man, make love like a man. I much prefer being a woman and have no desire to experience the other side."

Clark just nodded. He had no desire to experience being a woman so he could understand Loki's preferences.

The meal continued with friendly banter and the exchange of recent events. Clark was ashamed when they brought up his actions.

"Clark, you cannot hold yourself accountable for what you did, you were not in your right mind." Loki scolded gently. "No one holds me responsible for my actions as a man, I am a completely different person from that monster."

"'Tis true." Thor nodded. "My brother caused me much pain and suffering but my sister is that bright spark in the House of Odin. All of Asgard smiles when she walks by because of the good she does and the happiness she brings."

"But all the Kryptonite did was release my inhibitions, some where deep inside me is a killer."

"For shame young Clark!" Sif scolded heatedly. "You mistake the acts of a murderer with those of a soldier. You may have hatred in your heart for those you killed, but tell me truthfully, why did you go to that village?"

Clark shrugged. "I wanted to protect them, make sure they weren't under threat."

"Those are the actions of a true warrior." Loki said mildly.

"Agreed." Thor nodded firmly. "I have killed many in my battles, often I swung my hammer in anger as fools and foes advanced on Asgard. But my purpose was always the same, the defence of my home and those I had sworn to protect, whether they be gods or mortals."

"Clark doesn't have the natural mentality of a warrior." Brunhilde explained. "He was not raised to bear arms against those who sought his family harm. He was taught the ways of the diplomat and the peacemaker."

"Oh dear. That would indeed be troublesome." Loki said sadly. "I trust you are fixing that?" She asked Harry pointedly.

"I am teaching him to be more of an Avenger than warrior. When war comes he will be able to stand and fight. But he will never seek to actively kill his opponents otherwise."

"An Avenger!" Thor beamed proudly. "Clark would make a fine Avenger! Why did you not raise this at the poker game? We could have inducted him."

Harry just chuckled. Even after all this time, having his brother turned into his baby sister, marrying his daughter Sif, Thor was still as impetuous as ever. "Clark is still training. He has made great strides and has taken steps to becoming this world's hero. Besides, we may not start the Avengers here. The locals might want to call it something else."

Thor just sighed wistfully. "Many days I still long to here the war cry of Captain America. He was truly the most noble of the Avengers."

The gods suddenly tensed as a new person appeared in the dining hall.

"Lady Aphrodite, welcome to my home." Harry said as he rose to greet his guest, Jonathan and Martha followed Clark's example and that of the other guests.

"My Lord Death." She bowed lightly. "My original purpose was to come and bring the greetings of Olympus to your guests, unfortunately I must also deliver a warning."

"That can't be good." Dani muttered, Amara jabbed her in the stomach with her elbow.

"I have observed your Lord Thor to be a good and honourable man." Aphrodite stated ignoring Dani and Amara. "Unfortunately the Thor of this world is a drunk, a womaniser and a lout." She scowled.

"He's coming here to challenge Thor?" Scott asked worriedly.

Aphrodite just nodded nervously.

"Any chance he can be reasoned with?" Jean queried.

"There is always a chance, I just do not believe it to be a good chance."

There was a loud thunderous bang as the castle shook.

"Sounds like he's here." Jean sighed as she stood with the others to go and investigate.

They walked calmly downstairs as the banging continued, when they reached the entrance hall Dani and Amara held the Kents back whilst Harry answered the door alone.

He swung the door open angrily, glaring at the blond haired god in mid swing with his hammer.

"Do you mind?" Harry demanded.

The native Thunderer lowered his weapon and sneered at Harry. "Out of the way mortal." He said shoving Harry roughly into the wall where he landed with a sickening crack.

"Harry!" Martha cried.

"Death, remember?" Amara whispered. "He'll be up in a minute."

"Yeah, then we will seriously kick this losers ass." Dani snarled quietly.

The native Thor spotted the visiting Thor. "You! Imposter! You dare to come to my domain and claim to be me?"

"No. I don't." Thor said calmly, but his face was a thunderstorm of anger at the treatment of his beloved godfather.

"Thor Odinson, you have made a grave mistake." Aphrodite scowled as she stepped between Thor and the others.

"Aphrodite? You would side with these interlopers? You would betray your own people?" Thor accused.

"_My_ people welcome these travellers. As does your father. Perhaps if you spent less time in your cups and more time attending your duties you would know this."

"Silence woman! This is a matter between men and you have no place here." He snapped, he was not pleased that a woman was insulting him.

"Lady Aphrodite, I don't know if you have any fighting experience, but I offer my services to defend your honour." Sif growled.

"And I would stand as my daughter's second."

"Thank you, my ladies. But as we are all aware, Thor Odinson has committed a grievous error here. One that supersedes the attack on my honour."

Sif, Loki, Brunhilde and Thor all nodded in acknowledgement.

"What nonsense do you speak of?" The native Thor Odinson demanded.

"She refers to the fact that you have viciously attacked Lord Death, My Son." Came an angry voice.

Thor spun around to see his father standing there with the man who had opened the door.

"Father? Why are you here? This is matter between me and this imposter."

"I might have been able to accept that, were I a fool!" Odin hissed angrily. "But you attacked Death! Even you, my ignorant son, know the consequences for such an act."

"I have done no such thing!"

"This is Lord Death, you threw him into the wall not a minute ago and when you did so the gods of all pantheons took note. It was only by my _begging_ that I was able to prevent them from coming here to kill you."

Thor was still living next to that river in Egypt at this point. "This cannot be Death! He is nothing but a weak mortal. I tossed him aside as though he were a child."

"I am beginning to understand why my counterpart from your previous world sentenced his Thor to experience life as a mortal." Odin muttered to Harry.

"No reason you still can't." Harry muttered back. Even his Thor had never been this bad and he had been a fairly arrogant brat.

"You truly seek to question the word of your own father? Odin the Wise?" Sif asked with disgust.

"Silence wench, when I am finished with the imposter I will claim you as my own." Thor snapped but finished with a lascivious leer.

"YOU DARE INSULT MY DAUGHTER!"

Jonathan, Martha and Clark couldn't help but back up at the sight of the huge black dragon that now filled the expanded entrance hall.

The native Thor also took a step back.

"I SHOULD RIP OUT YOUR SOUL AND DESTROY YOU FOR YOUR VERY ATTITUDE!"

"Husband, calm yourself." Brunhilde ordered calmly.

The clearly tense dragon with molten fire dripping from its nostrils and mouth leant back slightly.

"I tried to protect you, to speak on your behalf." Odin said sadly. "But now I can do nothing for you. You must suffer the consequences of your foolishness."

"I am Thor! The Mighty God of Thunder! No mere beast will defeat me!"

Harry reverted back to human form, a smirk on his face. "How about a boy? Could a boy defeat you?"

A distinct chill ran down Clark's back.

"What foolishness do you speak of?"

"I will make a deal with you foolish Thor. If you can defeat my apprentice in single combat I will leave the punishment for your insults and crimes against an Aspect to your father. If he defeats you, your fate will rest in my hands."

"Does he really think I can take on a god?" Clark asked worriedly.

"Clark, you can hold your own against me and I helped train our Thor." Brunhilde assured him.

"Is a fight really necessary?" Jonathon scowled.

Thor nodded solemnly. "This sad excuse for a Thunderer must be shown the error of his ways. And only a defeat, such as that of being bested in mortal combat by a child will be enough."

"Wait, 'mortal combat'? We have to kill each other?" Clark asked as he began to panic.

Dani just giggled. "What part of 'Harry is Death' do you keep having trouble with? He has no intention of letting either of you remain dead. He'll resurrect which ever of you dies and then handle the punishment of this so called 'Thor'."

The native Thor had come to a decision. "Very well, I accept your challenge. If I defeat your child-"

"Oh no, you get nothing but what has been promised." Harry interrupted him. "If neither your father or I administer your punishment then the other pantheons will have no choice but to eliminate you themselves. They are bound by ancient laws."

"I will defeat any who come to challenge me." Thor boasted.

Harry rolled his eyes as he walked over to the others where they were giving Clark tips.

"You are not stronger than Thor, but he has none of your speed and agility." Aphrodite assured him.

"Remember your training Clark." Brunhilde lectured. "Stay out of his reach, use your speed to avoid him and assault him when you can. Use his own attacks to stun him and follow up before backing off if you have to."

"You do not have the strength to truly harm my son." Odin said sadly. "But you have the skill and speed to humiliate him, and you _must_ humiliate him."

Clark was shocked that this man wanted him to attack his own son.

"He has not the strength, but he shall have the ability." Thor declared. "He shall carry my hammer into this battle." He placed the massive war hammer on the floor and indicated for Clark to grasp it.

"Go ahead Clark." Harry said quietly. "Only the worthy may wield Mojlinar and you are worthy."

Clark looked to his parents who could only shrug helplessly from where they were being comforted and assured by Amara and Loki.

He took a deep breath and grasped the handle of the mighty weapon and was shocked when it lifted from the floor as though it weighed nothing.

"Mojlinar will aid you in this battle, my young friend." Thor said proudly. "I have but one request…"

Odin walked towards his own son with mixed feelings, he knew the young boy would fair valiantly regardless of the winner, but he was still being used for a purpose that he wished wasn't needed: the punishment of his own son.

"This is a sad day, my son." Odin said with disappointment. "Regardless of the outcome, you have already lost and you have brought dishonour to Asgard. I truly wish that the boy bests you as I do not believe I have the heart to punish you myself."

Thor looked like he had been slapped for a moment before his face hardened and he scowled at his father.

Odin walked to the middle of the entrance hall where Harry met him. They exchanged nods and Odin offered a slight bow and stepped aside for Harry to officiate.

"The rules are simple. You will fight until one of you yields or is defeated to the point of being incapacitated. Death is acceptable."

Harry closed his eyes and focused.

Jonathan and Martha gasped as they saw the entrance hall ripple and then vanish.

"Where are we?" Martha asked as she examined the barren wasteland.

"This is Harry's home universe. It's been dead for millions of years." Lorna said softly.

"It's the reason the Phoenix Council offered to move him away from here to our world." Jean added. "He spent millions of those years here alone, just existing… it was horrible."

"You may begin now." Harry declared.

The native Thor opened his mouth with a smirk to taunt Clark.

But Clark sighed before opening his mouth and bellowing loudly: "HAVE AT THEE!" Much to the others pleasure and amusement.

The visiting Thor was grinning wildly that Clark had fulfilled his request. Hercules would be so thrilled when he told this story.

The next thing the native Thor knew he was flying through the air at great speed having been hit in the head with the imposter's hammer. He had never even seen the boy move.

He never hit the ground as he was struck again and began sailing higher into the air.

"He fights well." Loki said with clear approval.

"Yes, and he has yet to attain his full powers." Harry smirked. He and the other castle residents were very proud of Clark's performance.

"He's going to get stronger?" Sif asked in shock.

"We won't ever really know for sure, but I believe he will be like Bruce, no true upper limit. He will be able to push himself and push himself."

"Perhaps next time we should invite Bruce to come." Rachel chuckled.

"Actually I was planning on taking Clark to him, but sure, that way might work better."

"At least our young warrior does not have the same issues as the Mighty Hulk." Thor said seriously as they watched the native Thor finally get a hit on Clark.

The two combatants faced each other on the ground.

Clark knew it wouldn't be smart to try another run like he had been as that one hit had rattled him and he wasn't sure if Thor would be able to block his attack if he was actually prepared for it.

"I had planned to offer you the chance to yield and I would make your end quick." Native Thor snarled. "But now I will make you beg for death."

Clark said nothing. One of Harry and Scott's major rules was never engage the enemies taunting… unless you needed to buy time for others to escape or get in position.

"Nothing to say whelp? Then I suppose you won't care if I remove your tongue!" Thor roared and charged at Clark.

Clark was relieved to see that although his opponent was fast he had nothing on his own super speed. He waited until the hammer was an inch from his head before he span out of the path and behind his enemy bring his own weapon down on the back of Thor's head.

Thor went flying into the ground bouncing and leaving huge dents in the dead ground.

Clark followed quickly and snatched the god's own hammer and held one in each hand. He then retreated back to his starting point.

Another of Harry and Scott's rules was to always fight where you are familiar if you can and on the field of your own choosing. Clark was familiar with this spot.

Meanwhile, native Thor had finally risen and was searching for his weapon.

"My son is truly a disgrace." Odin said in disgust as they watched the native Thor search frantically for his weapon.

"Clark hasn't really used his full arsenal yet." Laura frowned. "He's going to need to as he doesn't have the stamina yet to outlast a god."

"He might, you must consider that my son has spent his days in bars and beds. The only fights he now picks are with drunkards."

Native Thor had finally given up the search for his hammer and turned to face Clark. His face was one of shock and rage as he saw the boy holding both weapons.

"A foolish move boy." He declared with quiet malice. "For now no amount of begging will make me kill you quickly. Your death will be sung of in LEGENDS!" He roared as he raced towards Clark.

Clark braced himself; he had one opportunity to get this right. If he failed then it was possible that the god would not fall for the same ploy again. And Clark was getting tired.

As soon as Thor reached one hundred feet from him, Clark blurred forward and swung both hammers up and into Thor's torso sending the Thunder God flying into the air. Clark immediately took flight and held the hammers in front of him and smashed into the god sending him flying higher even faster. Clark slowed and followed; he made sure he was behind Thor and out of sight. As they reached the upper levels of what remained of the atmosphere Clark flew in and swung once more sending Thor into space.

Clark made one last pass; approaching him from the direction Thor was travelling in but only when his back was turned as he spun helplessly. He gave a solid smash that halted the movement away from the dead planet.

He backed off for a few moments before he nodded to himself and then flew back down to the planet and his friends and family.

He landed to the applause of the castle residents and Aphrodite. Harry and Odin looked at him with pride whilst Jonathan and Martha simply looked relieved.

"Well done Clark. Very well done." Harry said quietly with a proud smile.

Clark nodded gratefully to Harry before he turned to Odin. He slipped the visiting Thor's hammer strap over his wrist before he held the native Thor's in the palm of his hands and offered it to the King of Asgard with his head bowed. "Your son's hammer, My Lord."

Odin nodded and took the hammer. "You fought well, young warrior. You have earned a place in the city of Asgard and her armies. You conducted yourself with great honour. Return your weapon to its rightful owner, there is more to be done this day."

Clark nodded and moved to Thor. Once again he held the hammer in the palms of his hands. "Thank you My Lord, your hammer has won the day."

Thor just snorted. "You must learn to claim your victories, Clark. The hammer was but an instrument and you did play it well." He said as he retrieved the hammer allowing it to vanish to wherever he stored it when he wasn't in his armour.

Odin frowned curiously at the action before turning to Harry. "My Lord, by the terms of battle set by you, my son's punishment is in your hands."

Harry nodded. He had been a father many times and he knew what it was like to punish his own child. To play the bad guy. It was even worse when your child was clearly wrong and unrepentant.

"Anyone have any ideas?" Harry asked the assembled group.

"He is much like our Thor was in his youth." Brunhilde said. "Perhaps something similar to what his father punished him with?"

"He is much worse than our Thor!" Loki objected. "It is a good idea but I do not believe it will be sufficient for this lout." She spat.

"Perhaps the punishment that Uncle Harry bestowed on you, sister?" Thor questioned.

Loki sucked in a breath of shock. "Thor! He is the first-born son! We would be denying Lord Odin his heir." She scolded.

"No, good lady." Odin said quietly. "It would be a cutting blow, but I have another son. Baldur would make a fine heir. Long has he suffered in his brother's shadow and yet he is one of the best of us. This, your brother knew."

Loki looked at Thor not quite believing it.

"Who sits on the throne of Asgard even now as our father rests in the Odinsleep? Who has led our people when neither I nor my father were there?" Thor pointed out lightly to his sister. "For all that he is overlooked, Baldur has been at the forefront of the Aesir, guiding and protecting and simply serving as needed."

"I have nothing but praise for our brother, Thor. I just have reservations about taking such drastic actions against the Heir to Asgard's Throne. Father was distraught when he banished you to Midgard. What we are discussing is denying Lord Odin here his son."

Odin smiled at the way Loki defended others. It was a far cry from the Loki he knew.

"My Lady Loki, does your father love you any less for being a woman?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Were my son made a woman then I would be challenged to love him unreservedly, especially due to his crimes. But if his punishment were as yours, reborn or reincarnated, as a baby girl then I would be given the opportunity to correct my mistakes and enjoy the love of a father and child."

"I understand my Lord, and I thank you for your kind words." Loki said with a deep bow.

"You are a beautiful woman, my child. Your spirit and character bring much honour to Asgard." Odin declared. He then turned to the two mortals. "Jonathan Hiramson and your wife Martha. Your son fought well this day and has helped restore some of the honour of the city of Asgard and myself. But I would be curious to hear your thoughts on punishment for my wayward son."

Both of them quickly bowed but Martha was the one who spoke, not quite trusting her husband's impulsive and stubborn ways, no matter how noble and well intentioned.

"My Lord, we thank you for your kind words." Martha said, mimicking the speech patterns the others used. "But we are not worthy to comment on the affairs of the gods."

Odin smiled. "You show great respect in your speech, my child. But feel free to speak your own tongue, I will not infer offence where none is meant."

Martha frowned in confusion, not quite understanding what was being said.

"Lord Odin is saying that you don't need to imitate how the Asgard speak. Speak like a 20th century woman would." Amara smiled as she placed a reassuring hand on Martha's shoulder.

"The lady is correct. I will understand your intent and meaning. But still, your insight is requested still. You may have no authority amongst the gods, but great insight can come from the mouths of children, and so why should any less be expected from learned mortals?"

Martha looked at Amara warily.

"Speak truthfully, ignorance is not a crime, failure and unwillingness to correct ignorance is." She lectured lightly.

Martha nodded nervously but bowed slightly to Odin. "My Lord, the punishments that yourself and our friends are talking about… we have never heard of them. All that I can think of is what mortal punishments are available. Such as imprisonment and death. Or even community service."

"Community service?" Odin asked curiously.

"The criminal is forced to serve the community they harmed with their crimes until their sentence is complete. They do this under guard of the authorities." Jonathan answered. "But My Lord, is there no possibility of talking to him and giving him a second chance?"

A sad look fell upon Odin's face. "Alas, my son has been given many chances and has even suffered similar punishments you mentioned. All that is left is death or the suggestions of Lord Death and his kin. Besides, it would be wrong to deny my son Baldur the right to rule when he has proven himself time and again."

"Then the decision is made." Harry declared solemnly. "The Thor of your world shall be reborn as a woman, living her life as an infant. Her memories will be sealed but she will be raised with the full knowledge of her crimes as a man."

Harry vanished and returned instantaneously with a frozen and blue Thor.

"Thor Odinson, you have committed many crimes. The most unforgiveable of which is an attack on an Aspect. The ancient laws dictate that death is the only punishment." Harry said solemnly. "As Death, any punishment I administer will satisfy the law and prevent the fall of Ragnarok on Asgard and Midgard."

Thor tried to rise and face Harry but he was hampered by the effects of space on his untested body, unlike their own Thor who had travelled space and experienced it, the native Thor was not ready to defend himself from the frozen vacuum. "I-I-I d-d-do n-n-n-ot rec-c-cog-nise yyyyour rrrriiiight!"

"Hold your tongue foolish god." Harry spat. "You have no place to speak. What rights you recognise are of no consequence. They do not affect the final outcome.

"Your punishment is the destruction of your corporeal body. Your soul will be reduced to its spark and placed in the body of an infant female. Your father Odin shall raise you, as a princess of Asgard and you will be informed of your crimes as you grow in mental capacity. Your brother Baldur shall assume the throne of the Heir of Asgard."

"You lie!" He shouted, the cold slowly seeping from his body.

"Hold your tongue boy!" Odin snapped. "You merely add to your crimes with baseless accusations against the Aspect."

Thor turned to his father in shock. It seemed to dawn on him that this was not some test arranged by his father. "Father? You would stand by these worthless mortals?"

"It shames me that I, Odin the Wise, should father a child so lacking in mere common sense." Odin declared sadly.

Harry stepped forward and placed both hands on Thor's shoulders, the god tried to struggle but was helpless under the power of the Master of Magic.

Thor was horrified as an ethereal hand reached out from inside his captor's body and reached into his own. It became all too clear to the Thunderer that he had made a terrible mistake.

"Father! No! Save me!" He cried frantically.

Amara and Jonathan stood with Martha between them as the mortal woman wept at the horrifying sounds of a son begging for his father. Dani had an arm around Jonathan's shoulder as he tried to hold his composure.

"There's no shame in crying, Jonathan." She whispered. "No one here will think any less of you."

Clark meanwhile had fallen to his knees, the Cuckoos surrounding him as he cried pitifully. The sounds of fear coming from the fallen god brought back the horrors he witnessed that night in Africa. He suddenly realised what the little girl he saved had been crying and screaming as he saved her.

Harry slowly pulled the soul of the god from his body until the empty vessel collapsed lifeless on the barren floor.

Harry released the soul and it vanished from all but Harry's sight.

Harry turned to the body and it was consumed in magical fire. With no soul it had no power and no protection, it was nothing more than material.

When the body was less than ash seconds later, Harry held out his hands cupped and stared into them.

For a while nothing happened until Harry spoke up. "Martha, Jonathan, Clark, come, join Odin in watching the birth of his daughter."

The Cuckoos, Amara and Dani gently pushed the three mortals forward.

The four beings watched, transfixed by the sight in Harry's hands as from nothing a piece of pale white flesh formed that slowly grew and developed over a matter of seconds into that of a tiny newborn infant girl.

"It's not breathing!" Martha said beginning to panic.

"It has no soul." Harry said with a soft smile. "I have yet to give it one."

He turned and offered the lifeless infant to Odin who took it with a tears rolling down his cheeks.

Harry turned and placed a hand on the soul of Thor causing him to appear to the others. It was obvious that he was terrified.

"The end of your time has come. Hopefully your soul will be able to overcome your past and this beautiful girl will become something to be sung of in the Halls of Valhalla." Harry said.

The image of Thor began to try and back away shaking his head frantically. But Harry placed a hand in his chest and it began to lose form, shrinking rapidly until it became little more than a spark of light in the palm of his hand.

Harry carried the spark to Odin and the baby where he placed the spark over the child and they watched as it drifted slowly down into the child's chest.

"A new life has been created from an old life. But this soul is merely a spark and needs to mature before the child can awake. I will place the infant in stasis for nine months at which time we will witness the rebirth of Thor, Princess of Asgard."

Odin bent down and gently kissed the child's forehead. "Thank you my Lord." He said as he handed the child to Harry.

Harry smiled and took the baby that vanished from his hands almost instantly. "Take this time to mourn your son so that you can embrace your daughter with an open heart."

Odin nodded heavily before looking at the hammer that now hung from his wrist.

"This world… our world is now without a Thunderer." He said quietly yet clearly as he grasped the hammer by the shaft. "It seems wrong, for all my son's faults, he defended Asgard and his brethren without hesitation. Let it never be said that he was less than the Thunderer should have been in his duties. It was his personal life that was fraught with misdeeds. He failed as a man in the simplest of ways.

"The world needs a Thunder God. Like yourself, Lord Thor." He looked straight at Thor. He then turned back to Clark. "You have defeated the God of Thunder and to the victor go the spoils." He took a shocked Clark's hands and placed them around the shaft of the hammer and then placed his own around them. "To you, Clark Jonathanson, I grant the divinity of my son Thor. I entrust to you his estate in Asgard and his powers and duties and I do so knowing you will make your father and myself most proud."

Clark was further shocked when Odin leant forward and kissed him full on the lips. But Clark couldn't move as he felt power flow into him. It was nothing like when his eyes heated up or he flew. This felt like he was having a generator placed in his chest.

Odin released him and he fell to the floor with a searing headache. A quick glance told him that Jonathan and Martha would have protested greatly if not for Loki, Amara and Dani holding them back and quiet.

"Why would you do that?" Martha demanded tearfully as she was released and ran to her son. "He's too young to have more responsibility! Can't he just have a childhood?"

Odin went to try and answer but was surprised when Thor spoke up. "Martha, Clark can have any childhood we desire. Being made a god will have no affect on that."

"But all the work you make him do, I know you care for him but you put too much on him."

"We had a friend back in our home universe." Scott spoke up. "His uncle taught him one extremely valuable lesson that was his life's guiding motto. He taught it to his children but most importantly it became the core principle of all superheroes: With great power comes great responsibility.

"Clark has great power, his responsibility is to ensure that he doesn't hurt others. That is why we train him, we don't want him to accidentally burn someone like he did Lorna, or break their hand when he shakes it.

"Whatever other responsibilities he takes on will be his to choose."

"They are correct dear child. Though I have bestowed him all that was Thor's he need not act upon them. He may forever choose to ignore that he is the Thunderer. But he will need to be trained as he will always have access to Thor's powers."

"I will stay and train him myself." Thor pledged.

"Thank you." Odin acknowledged the offer. "Martha, know that although it seems that I have given Clark more troubles, what I have truly sought to give him is more aid. He is one of the Aesir now. When he calls, the Aesir will answer and we will follow him into battle."

"We thank you for your gift, My Lord." Loki said on behalf of the Kents.

But Odin just smiled. "Worry not, dear child. I understand their fear; it is their duty as parents. I have already promised not to infer offence where there is none and I cannot fault a parent for caring for their son." His face fell. "Not after what I have just lost."

Martha and Jonathan both shared a horrified look. Jonathan stepped forward and kneeled. "Forgive us my lord, we were foolish to ignore your own loss over our own worries." Martha joined him on her knees.

"No, rise my children. Know that here today we are each parents and that we will each seek to protect and teach our children."

"Odin, what did you do to Clark?" Harry asked abruptly. "I can see the power of a god but something is happening to his brain."

Odin smiled softly. "A gift from the god of Clark's people: Rao. He is proud of Clark and knew you were having trouble with his ship. Rao granted him the knowledge of his people's language through the divine gift."

"Oh thank god!" Laura groaned.

Everyone looked at her.

"It's been driving me and Hilde nuts! We have no point of reference for their language and nothing to translate. Maybe we can get somewhere now that Clark can read and speak the damned language." She explained.

"Harry, take us home." Phoebe ordered.

"We have somewhere we need to be tonight." Celeste added.

"Lana might be doing something reckless." Mindee sighed in exasperation.

Harry closed his eyes and focused and the castle materialised around them.

"Once more my Lord, I apologise for the actions of my son, and I thank you for the gift of my daughter." Odin bowed low before Harry. He then turned to Martha and Jonathan. "Remember, Clark will always have help from Asgard."

With that he vanished.

"This was a sad day and a happy day." Aphrodite commented as she moved away from the group. "But Lord Odin's love for his children will win the day. "If I might suggest, My Lord, this week might be a good time to visit the Devil's Triangle. It would be a useful trip that will allow Clark to acclimatise to his new status."

She leaned in and kissed Harry on the lips before vanishing.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat. Show me a room to crash in Mom." Rachel yawned.

"Come children, I will show you to the empty rooms." Brunhilde instructed.


	20. Chapter 20

"Good morning young godling!"

Clark groaned as the booming voice woke him. "Five more minutes."

"How can he live on a farm and still be asleep?" Asked a feminine voice.

"If he doesn't get up now I'm going to burn his bed linens." Came a second female voice.

Clark knew those voices. Thor, Sif and Loki. And he _knew_ Loki wasn't joking. He raised a hand from his position on his stomach. "I'm up!"

"Excellent. Prepare yourself for your day. You have much travelling to do and you have need of a few hours lessons before we leave." Thor instructed.

"Somebody's in trouble!" Loki sang as she grabbed Sif and skipped out of Clark's bedroom.

Clark quickly got washed and dressed before he jogged down the stairs. The memories of the previous evening were fresh in his mind, right up until Odin had shoved Thor's hammer into his hand.

In the kitchen his parents were sitting uncomfortably at the table with Thor and Sif whilst Loki, Amara and Dani pottered around cleaning and cooking.

"Did they kick you out of the castle already?" Clark teased.

"No, we got fed up of listening to Rachel and Emma exchange snide remarks." Loki sighed. "Even I never held a grudge this long when I was a man."

"You're a woman now Loki. You can hold onto it forever." Dani said with a teasing smile as she quoted Marge Simpson.

Jonathan and Thor both looked like they wanted to agree but wisely kept their mouths shut.

"Thor, the fight last night. You could have beaten me, right?" Clark asked, he was curious and hopeful. He didn't want to be considered more powerful than a god; it made him feel safer knowing that someone like Harry and Thor was out there to protect him.

"Last night I could have." Thor nodded. "But it would have been a hard fight, only won because I am older and have more stamina. When you have grown some more and reached your prime it will take several gods to defeat you."

"Not that you have to worry about that." Sif added. "As Father's apprentice you are afforded the same respect as he is. An attack on you is an attack on him, and that leads to the intervention of the pantheons themselves."

"So they weren't joking about the other gods punishing their Thor?" Jonathan asked.

"They were not." Thor said gravely. "It has only happened once in our own world. A man of great evil managed to persuade a being of great power but unstable mind to attack Lord Death. The attack was pointless and did little to slow him down, but the gods of all the pantheons, Greek, Norse, Japanese, Chinese… all of them assembled and defeated the man's army. They were merciless."

"But no one could really hurt him, could they?" Clark practically begged.

"They could not harm him nor kill him, but it might be possible to restrain or incapacitate him." Loki answered as she placed a plate of French toast on the table. "But it would not matter how dire the threat. An attack on an Aspect is an attack on Existence and we gods are duty bound to protect Existence… besides, if Existence ends, so do we, so it's more self-preservation really." She smirked.

Clark nodded with a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry about it Clark." Loki assured him. "The only thing capable of truly taking out an Aspect is the combined forces of the other Aspects and they all like Harry as he acts as a champion for them."

After a few moments Martha spoke up. "Clark, why didn't you tell us you were having nightmares?" She asked with concern.

Clark was shocked; he didn't think anyone had noticed.

"You're supposed to talk to Jean about these things, if she knew she could have helped you." Dani scolded as she swatted his shoulder in annoyance. "She had to spend all night singing over your bed to calm you."

"She did? But how did you know?" Clark knew that Amara charmed everything in his room unbreakable so he wouldn't have to have a repeat performance from his sleep flying. She had also put privacy charms so they couldn't hear him whilst he slept.

"Take a look outside." Jonathan rolled his eyes.

Clark frowned but stood and went to the window. There were scorch marks all over the ground and the barn had several holes in it.

"Are the animals alright?" He asked quickly.

"We managed to move them with Harry's help." Martha assured him.

"It took me a good five minutes to rein the storm in." Thor said, clearly impressed. "Your powers as a Thunder God appear to be fully mature. Uncle Harry believes this to be because the divinity you received came from a mature source."

"What? What divinity?" Clark asked.

"Jean said his memory might be a little fuzzy about that part." Amara nodded. "Clark, last night Odin granted you everything that was Thor's. His property, his place amongst the Aesir, his hammer and more importantly his divinity and powers."

"Long story short … you're a god kid." Dani smirked.

Clark paled.

Then he fainted.

* * *

Harry was currently dealing with a distraught Lana and fairly pissed off set of Cuckoos.

"Let me get this straight, you've been receiving anonymous love letters at your parents grave… which for the record is creepy. You then decided to spend the night there out in the open, _alone_, waiting to meet this admirer… which, again, for the record is the dumbest idea ever. Then you three scared him into passing out (can't blame the guy for that) and the four of you decided to take him for coffee in the middle of the night before he ran home to a man who threatened the lot of you with a gun.

"Am I getting this right?" Harry asked somewhat sarcastically.

"He was so kind and gentle and this man just pointed a gun at him, it was like Byron wanted be abused." Lana said desperately.

"Are we sure he was abused?" Harry asked.

"He had restraint marks on his wrists." Phoebe nodded.

"Alright, but be prepared for the same lecture from the Sheriff." Harry chuckled as he picked up the phone to call Miller.

* * *

"Bad idea Martha. Bad, bad, _bad_ idea." Lex whispered vehemently as he walked Martha out to her truck.

Martha had just arrived to pick up the check for the monthly cheque from Lex for his groceries. She had also wanted to check on Lex as they hadn't seen him in a few days. She had discovered Lionel Luthor had moved in which explained everything.

Only Lionel was in a bad mood with his blindness and fired his assistant… apparently his fourth so far. After showing a decent grasp of business acumen Lionel offered her the job of his assistant.

"You don't need the money and it puts you at risk. That puts Clark at risk, I'm already a big enough risk around my father, why do you think I haven't been round the past few days?"

"It could give us insight into what he is up to." Martha argued.

"A spy? No, absolutely not. I will go over your head, over your husband and son's heads and straight to Amara if I have to." He said with very slight upturned lips in a smile. He was well aware that Amara treated the family like they were her children, even Martha.

"I still think it would be a good idea." Martha scowled.

"And I think you are underestimating my abilities. I'm a Luthor, I was born and bred for this sort of thing."

"But I have _other_ abilities." She said pointedly.

"Which is the final nail in the coffin." Lex scoffed. "A single slip and your life will be hell. My entire house is bugged, there is a reason I don't invite you all over."

"You bugged your own house?" Martha asked in confusion.

"You do remember the incident with Victoria? Or my housekeepers?"

Martha could only grimace and nod. In truth she couldn't help but feel a little relieved, she was happy to avoid the backstabbing world of business and politics.

* * *

Sheriff Miller, Lana, Harry and the Cuckoos stood outside the Moore's house as Mr. Moore accused Lana and the Cuckoos of pulling a horrible prank by bringing up their dead son.

"Sir, if we could just take a look around we could clear this up and put the girls minds at ease." Harry offered. He knew the boy was there, he could see the soul in the cellar.

"Absolutely not! You have no right, especially after the callous accusations of these… _girls_." He spat.

"Please, just leave us alone. Haven't we suffered enough?" Mrs. Moore begged.

"Do you know who I am?" Harry asked. "I am Doctor Potter. I work at the hospital and school. I have friends with access to some of the most advanced medical techniques and processes in the world.

"Now, these girls don't lie without good reason. And I believe them about this. They have no reason to bring the Sheriff and myself out here and expose themselves to possible harassment suits. They told me that your son said he is sick, I might be able to help him or get him help."

"We know that Byron was part of an experimental drug program when he was young, Mrs. Moore." Phoebe spoke up.

"We researched and found the records and the death certificate." Celeste added.

"Do you really think you are helping your son by locking him away for his entire life? There are better options." Mindee spat in disgust. "He likes to read, we can give him access to immense libraries, we can get him recordings of Shakespeare's plays performed by the masters. We can introduce him to friends.

"But all you can do is lock him away and treat him like a dog!"

Mr. Moore was livid. "How dare you! We love our son! We give him everything we can and we try to make sure he doesn't harm anyone else!"

Mindee just looked at Harry and the Sheriff with a happy smile. Harry was chuckling whilst the Sheriff frowned. "I believe we have now provided you with the necessary evidence." She declared.

"What are you talking about, girl?" Mr. Moore demanded.

"You just admitted your son is still alive and that you are hiding him." Harry smirked. "You just got played."

Sheriff Miller had his hand on his gun, but it was still holstered. "Hand over the rifle Mr. Moore and exit the house. You too Mrs. Moore."

"Please, don't hurt him! He's all we have!" Mrs. Moore wailed.

"Would you relax, Harry's a doctor." Mindee snapped.

"Mindee!" Lana gasped, shocked at her attitude.

"What? They could have taken him to any public hospital and eventually they would have worked out how to manage whatever his symptoms are. He may have been confined to a house but he still could have had friends and something resembling a life."

"Sheriff, if you watch over Mr. and Mrs. Moore I will go and meet young Byron." Harry suggested.

The Sheriff nodded but couldn't help the small smile at the seemingly young man call another person young as though he were past his prime. The doctor was a good man but vey much an old soul.

"Please, don't bring him out in the sunlight, it causes his problems." Mrs. Moore called out.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Very well. I will arrange for my colleague to come here with some equipment and then we will see what we can do about moving him somewhere better than a cellar." He said as he headed inside.

* * *

The relocation of Byron Moore to the Metropolis hospital was left in the hands of Jean as Harry met up with Clark in order to head off on their trip to the Devil's Triangle, a.k.a. the Bermuda Triangle. Brunhilde was accompanying them with Loki and Sif. Thor decided to remain behind to fill the void in an emergency.

The first leg was handled by Harry who teleported them all to Miami. He had systematically travelled to all the major cities in America and Europe in the weeks prior to introducing himself to Clark just so he could teleport to them. Once there the group took off with Brunhilde carrying Sif and Harry carrying Loki neither of whom could fly.

"How was your god training Clark?" Harry asked as they flew high above the ocean beyond the range of natural human sight.

"Disturbing. Every time I succeeded was another piece of proof that I am now the God of Thunder." He grimaced.

"Suck it up, cutie." Loki teased. "Sooner you accept it the sooner you master your powers and the less likely you are to fry your parent's cattle."

"You do realise the downside of being a god though, don't you Clark?" Harry asked.

"You mean there's more than the general downsides?"

"I can't make you a magical. I can't put a magical core in a god. It just doesn't work."

"But how does Loki do magic?"

"Through rituals and the like." The ebony haired goddess answered. "Most of the small stuff is illusionary for which I have a gift, I can also shapeshift. Most gods have some ability to use their divinity the same way they others use magic."

"Like how Aphrodite teleports." Harry explained.

They travelled for a few more minutes before they spotted the island. None of them recognised it from the maps so they assumed it was the right one. They landed on a beautiful sandy beach.

"It's like a paradise." Clark smiled. "Chloe and Lana are going to be very jealous. Not to mention Mom, Dad and Lex… you are going to be in so much trouble with your girls though." He laughed.

"Pfft, I can easily bring them back here. Unlike you who has to fly everywhere." Harry taunted with a smile.

"I hope I get faster then." Clark sighed.

"KILL THE MEN!"

At the sound of the female war cry from the nearby forest, Loki turned to Harry. "What did you do?" She asked archly.

"Nothing that you didn't… other than be born with a penis."

"I _was_ born with a penis."

"Right… just not in that body."

"Father, do we retaliate or try and talk them down?" Sif asked as she tried to ignore the banter between her father and sister-in-law.

"Aphrodite sent us here. So I guess they just didn't get the message." Harry shrugged.

There were numerous females pouring out of the forest all dressed in white and armed with a variety of swords, spears, shields and bows and arrows.

"Clark, catch any arrows that come our way." Harry instructed as he stepped forward.

"Yes oh mighty Death." Clark muttered.

Sif and Loki shared smile. Clark was developing a sense of humour. Clearly their Harry was rubbing off on him.

"We were sent by the Goddess Aphrodite. We come in peace." Harry called out.

The response was a spear thrown at him that went straight through his chest.

He sent a glare at Clark.

"You said to catch the arrows, you didn't mention the spears." He smirked.

"Now? Now is when you want to play with semantics?" Harry asked unbelievingly.

"You're Death. Suck it up."

"I am so going to up your training tonight." Harry grumbled.

Clark was having fun running around and catching the arrows. He already had fifty. He decided to start catching the spears as well.

"They aren't stopping." Loki observed as they came closer.

Sif drew her sword as Loki hefted her staff.

"Aphrodite, a little help would be appreciated." Harry spoke to the sky.

The goddess heard and appeared next to Harry with a smile. She turned and kissed him deeply causing the women to falter.

"HE HAS DEFILED THE GODDESS!" Someone shouted.

Aphrodite frowned. "Whoever said that is so getting smited." She growled. "Athena! Sort these foolish women out." She ordered as she looked to the sky.

There were two impacts in front of Harry and Aphrodite that caused the women to halt their charge. When the sand settled two female warriors stood side by side with their weapons drawn one had armour, a shield and a sword whilst the other carried a bow and arrow and was dressed in animal skins.

"Stand down Amazons or we will be forced to kill you." One of the women ordered.

One of the women was either brave enough or stupid enough to speak up. "But Goddess, they are men!"

"_That_ is a god. He is also the apprentice of Death! The other one is actually Death and if you continue to try and harm them we will be forced to kill you under the ancient laws of the universe."

"But they keep women as slaves!"

"Hey! I am nobodies slave and you had damn well better watch your tongue Missy or I will cut it out!" Loki snarled.

Clark was shocked by Loki's aggressive and angry attitude. She had always seemed a bubbly character like Dani. He had expected that response from Sif.

"Where is Hippolyta?" The goddess in armour asked. "Why does your Queen not lead you into battle?"

"She is guiding the battle from the palace." Another of the warrior women said as she knelt before the new goddesses.

The goddess' face twisted into one of disgust. "Take us to the palace. The rest of you may collect your worthless arrows and spears from Kal-El, the Aesir God of Thunder."

Clark stood there trying not to smile at the petulant women who came up to him and tried to take the huge bundle of arrows and spears he held.

Unfortunately he had collected over a hundred arrows alone and thirty spears. This was far too heavy for the women who dropped them with a loud crash.

"I'll just leave you to it." Clark smiled before jogging over to Harry.

"Clark, meet Athena and Artemis. Ladies, meet Clark Kent… baby god." He indicated the armoured goddess and animal-skin clad goddess respectively.

Clark glared at Harry's Cheshire grin there was a flash of lightning followed by a loud thunderclap. The lightning crashed down on top of Harry's head.

"Very funny." Harry groused as he rubbed his rapidly re-growing hair.

Artemis paled. "You attacked Death!" She gasped.

"I attack him at least once a day. This is one of the rare times my attack got through." Clark smiled proudly.

"Relax Artemis." Athena smiled. "Kal-El had no intention of trying to harm and kill Death. It is intent that is the key."

"Yes, otherwise Mother would be very frustrated when Father pisses her off." Sif giggled.

"Shall we head to the palace?" Aphrodite offered.

"Lead the way ladies." Harry said with a bow.

"Tell me Kal-El, how did you learn to master the powers of the Thunderer so quickly?" Athena asked.

"Harry and the others have been teaching my how to handle my other powers for over a year now. It really wasn't that hard once Thor explained what to look for." Clark explained as they walked. "My Lady, why do you call me Kal-El?"

Athena smiled. "So polite. We are equals here Kal-El. I call you that because it is your birth name. Also, I believe it would be beneficial for you to be known as 'Kal-El, the God of Thunder' instead of 'Clark Kent, the God of Thunder'. It will be much harder to maintain a separate identity otherwise."

"Can't argue with that." Harry agreed.

"Why in the name of All-Father would you want to argue with the Goddess of Wisdom?" Loki demanded of Harry.

"Well you wouldn't but let's face it, I argue with Odin all the time and he's a _God_ of Wisdom."

* * *

Back in Smallville Jean had sent the girls to school whilst she oversaw Byron's situation. Emma wrote them a note excusing their absence from morning classes. Scott was being shadowed by Rachel, which meant Scott did a lot more glaring at his students when they stared to long at his daughter. Scott's main objective was keeping Rachel away from Emma. It was actually very sad for him that his daughter refused to accept Emma as part of his life.

During lunch he took her for a brief tour, showing her Dani and Harry's office before moving on to the Torch.

"Good, you're back." Scott smiled as he saw Lana and Chloe. "Would you mind showing Rachel around? I need to attend to some business."

"Dad, I promised I wouldn't make trouble for The Bitch."

"Yet you still call her that." Scott said sadly as he walked away.

"Why do you hate her so much?" Chloe asked when he was out of earshot.

"Because The Bitch tried to seduce my dad when he went to her for counselling. She went in his head and claimed it didn't count. Then when Mom died she continued to do it in the physical world, she wasn't even cold in the ground yet." Rachel spat.

"But Jean likes her." Lana pointed out. "They seem like good friends."

"And that's the only thing I don't like about my Mom."

"What about when they sleep with Harry's soul mates? Or Harry sleeps with your Mom?" Chloe asked. She blushed as she remembered the Cuckoos telling the story of how Jean and Harry met and spent a thousand years together. "Your Dad was alive whilst your Mom was spending a thousand years with Harry."

"LA-LA-LA-LA-I am not hearing this!" Rachel shouted loudly with her fingers jammed in her ears.

Chloe and Lana looked at each other. They couldn't believe that this girl was as old as Jean and Emma. Even Dani and the Cuckoos were more mature.

"Alright fine, we won't talk about it anymore." Chloe said loudly. Neither of the two mortal girls where particularly impressed with the visiting Phoenix. She seemed like a spoiled brat.

"Good." Rachel said smugly. "Now, how far are you in your training?" She asked Chloe.

"What training?"

"Phoenix training. I assume you've been doing it since Mom and Dad got here so Mom must have taught you how to transform. Once you can do that it is supposed to be easier to learn to access your powers in human for- you have no idea what I am talking about." She could see the completely confused look on the girls' faces.

"Are you trying to say that Chloe is a Phoenix?" Lana asked.

"Well yeah. Why didn't they tell you? It's pretty obvious… to a Phoenix. Harry would have known just by looking at you."

Chloe calmly stood up and headed for the door. Lana looked at Rachel before grabbing Rachel and her keys and following her before locking the door behind them.

They caught up to her as they reached the gym where they saw her approach the Cuckoos and Laura.

"Is it true?" She demanded. "Am I a Phoenix?"

The four girls glared at Rachel.

"Hey, don't blame me! You didn't tell me it was a secret. It's obvious what she is so I didn't see a reason not to mention it. I just asked how her training was going."

"We didn't tell her because she isn't sixteen yet and _that_ is the usual age we deal with it." Phoebe scowled.

"You can be so damned irresponsible sometimes Rachel." Mindee snapped.

Celeste turned to Chloe. "We weren't hiding it, it's just traditional to reveal and begin training at age sixteen. Rachel knows this as she helped train other Phoenixes."

"You still kept it from me. What gives you that right?"

"Harry and the Phoenix Council. And it's not a right." Phoebe answered. "It's a law. Like most laws Harry is involved in creating it's fairly flexible but it is usually really worth it. Let me show you." She said as she closed her eyes.

"Chloe? Chlo?" Lana asked as the girl's eyes stared straight ahead, unblinking.

"She forgot to tell her to close her eyes." Laura sighed as she stepped forward and gently brushed the closed with the palm of her hand. "It's really uncomfortable when you come out of a trance like that with your eyes all dried up."

"She really is a Phoenix?" Lana asked.

"She is." Celeste answered.

"But someone has spoiled our big surprise party." Mindee glared at Rachel.

"How is this my fault?"

"Well, how about this, you can be the one to tell Jean and Harry what you did." Mindee sneered.

"Me!?"

"Your mess, your clean up." Celeste smirked.

"Yes, but we aren't letting her anywhere near Chloe's training." Phoebe frowned as she and Chloe came back to awareness. Phoebe placed her hands on Chloe's shoulders to steady her.

"Wow… you guys throw some huge parties." She said with wide eyes.

"The emergence of a Phoenix is a big deal. We are very rare compared to other life forms." Celeste smiled.

"Now that you know of your true nature we will have to be much more firm with you." Phoebe scowled. "We can no longer just be your friends in private. It is how we make sure that you will be worthy of being a Phoenix."

"Yeah, look what happened to Rachel, she's a bloody child." Mindee sneered.

"Hey!"

"Rachel, the law was put in place because of you." Celeste sighed. "You've been alive for a hundred thousand years and you still can't show Emma any respect and you ignore the hurt it causes your parents."

"Can we get back to us not being friends?" Chloe asked worriedly. She hated to admit it but the Triplets had grown on her.

"For the next year or so we, along with Jean are your instructors. We are more than that really." Phoebe explained. "We will be like a stern parent combined with a taskmaster."

"The training is intense and is based on what Harry's Dad taught him and his friend Neville. The first Human/Phoenix he met." Mindee added.

"Are we sure I'm a Phoenix?" Chloe swallowed nervously.

"We can prove it tonight." Celeste assured her with a smile.

* * *

"Hippolyta! Where are you?" Athena demanded as they entered the Grecian style palace. "I swear, these girls are getting far too uppity."

"Uppity?" Sif asked.

"They have a bad history with men. So for that I could excuse them for attacking you, especially as it is the law that any man who sets foot on Themiscyra is to be put to death." She explained. "But we specifically told Hippolyta that Death was coming with his apprentice. We made it clear he was male but was to be treated as though Zeus himself had stepped onto the island."

"They've been isolated for several thousand years now. Their last known major interaction with men was when they were conquered and brutally subjugated by Hercules and his armies." Aphrodite added.

"I'm sorry, did you just tell me that Hercules of this world led an army to rape a city of women?" Harry asked disbelievingly.

"Yes My Lord. It was disgusting, despite the fact that Hippolyta allowed herself to be taken in by the man."

"Where is Hercules now?" There was a sub-zero vein of ice in Harry's question.

"He was made into a pillar that supports Themiscyra, he suffers as he sits near Doom's Doorway, the entrance Hade's Realm." Athena answered.

"No. I will not have such a soul in existence." Harry scowled. You will take me to him before we depart the island and I will destroy him."

The three Greek goddesses bowed low. "As you wish My Lord." They said as one.

Harry nodded before relaxing his posture. "Now, I assume the young lady hiding behind the pillar is not Hippolyta." Harry gestured to a nearby column.

"Come forth child. Present yourself." Artemis instructed.

A girl approximately eighteen years old with long, wavy, ebony hair quickly hurried over before prostrating herself before the three Greeks. "Forgive me My Goddesses. I didn't mean to overhear. I was caught in here when you arrived."

"Then you should have made your presence known. Some things are not meant for mortal ears." Athena admonished. "Now, rise Diana, Princess of the Amazons."

Slowly Diana rose, always keeping her face to the floor though.

"This is Lord Death and his Apprentice, Kal-El, the God of Thunder. The women are his wife, Brunhilde, his daughter Sif and his goddaughter Loki, all four are of the Aesir."

"My Lord's and Ladies." She bowed slightly. "Is it my time? Am I to die today?" She asked as she began to tremble.

"No child. But our visit does involve you." Aphrodite assured her.

"Diana, look at us when we speak to you." Harry said softly.

"It is not right, My Lord." She shook her head vigorously.

"Where is your pride girl?" Loki demanded. "Athena called you a princess. How do you expect to lead your people if you can't even look where you're going?"

"I was told that to look on a man is a death sentence."

Artemis frowned. "Who filled your head with such nonsense?"

"My mother said-"

"God that woman gets on my last nerve." She growled. "It will be a good thing to get Diana away from her for a while. Lord Death and Clark will be excellent examples of men for her to be around."

"NOOOOOO!"

The howl of horror was accompanied by the emergence of a tall blonde woman in her mid thirties who ran up to Diana and hugged her to her chest tightly.

"Please, don't give my daughter to men. Take me instead!"

"I think that's Hippolyta." Loki whispered loudly to Sif who just closed her eyes and breathed out deeply at her friend's antics.

"Can I ask a question?" Clark asked carefully, he really didn't want to step on anyone's toes here.

"Of course, Kal-El." Aphrodite smiled warmly. "You are our honoured guest here."

Clark nodded with a thankful smile before he frowned and turned to Hippolyta. "What do you mean by _'give_ you daughter to men'?"

Hippolyta looked at Clark and Harry with a look of utter hatred and loathing. "You are _men_! All you do is take women and rape and use them. You will _not_ have my daughter!"

"So you are accusing us of being rapists?"

"All men are such!"

"Foolish child!" Artemis snapped as she struck the blonde woman across the cheek. "Have you learnt nothing? You go from believing that everyone can be reasoned with to believing that every man is pure evil!"

"You saw what they did!" Hippolyta snarled.

There was a loud crack as Sif strode forward and struck Hippolyta across the other cheek. "Mind your tongue girl. How dare you question those who are older, wiser and far more experienced than you in such a manner."

"Sif." Harry said softly.

Sif lowered her head first at Harry then at Artemis in silent apology.

Artemis merely nodded at her.

"The Lady Sif is quite right." Athena said calmly. "What superior knowledge do you have that we do not? We who have existed for millennia upon millennia, who have travelled the worlds and seen the hearts of both men and women."

"I have experienced the 'hearts of men'." Hippolyta sneered at Harry and Clark. "I will die before I let a man near my daughter."

Clark had been pretty upset hearing about what the Queen had been through. His memories of his Red Kryptonite activities came to mind and he shuddered. But then he saw that familiar smirk on Harry's face and he knew that whatever insanity he was about to pull was likely to work… regardless of the chaos.

"Die?" Harry said softly with a grin that caused both Hippolyta and Diana to pullback fearfully. "No, I have something planned for you that might just drive you insane. If the goddesses permit." He finished with a wink at the three Greeks.

"Our Lord Death's wisdom is without parallel." Athena bowed. "We welcome his word."

Harry bowed low to the goddesses. "You honour me." He then stood up straight and took a step back. "Lady Aphrodite, please bring Princess Diana before me."

As Aphrodite stepped forward Hippolyta clutched her daughter tighter. "Please no!"

Athena and Artemis stepped forward and forcibly made her release Diana.

"Come child, Lord Death bears you no ill will. I give you my oath as a goddess." Aphrodite smiled kindly at the clearly terrified young woman.

It was clear that Diana was torn between the words of her mother and the respect she had for her deities. It was only the fact that her mother had taught her that the gods were above even her and responsible for giving herself to her mother that made her trust the Goddess of Love.

When they reached Harry a few feet away he smiled at them. "Your mother was brutally hurt by men once. But not all men are the same. Just as not all women are the same." He told Diana. He slowly leaned forward and placed a hand on the girl's right hip causing her to flinch, but she bravely stay put. "Clark and I will be outside whilst my daughters explain what I have done to you. I want you to explain it to your mother."

Harry nodded to Sif and Loki before gesturing for Clark to follow him.

"What did you do?" Clark asked when they were outside.

"In my original home universe, I saved a young girl from being raped. I adopted that girl as my sister; I never knew she was my soul mate until she died. The attempted rape shook me deeply and I spent months working on a way to protect her from that threat. I modified a charm that hides the knowledge that a person has genitalia. They don't know that person has genitalia and can't figure that fact out, if you were to strip the person you would not see their genitalia. Only the person protected by the charm can reveal the secret."

"Doesn't that them make them neither male or female?" Clark asked.

"No, that was one of the things I tested. You will still find the person sexually attractive based on their gender, you just won't be aware of their plumbing." Harry chuckled.

"Ok, so why are you doing this for Princess Diana and showing her mother?"

"You are about to find out." Harry said as he headed back inside.

Clark could see that the three Greek goddesses looked very pleased. Sif and Loki were amused and Diana was very embarrassed.

Hippolyta however continued to glare at Clark and Harry as if she could make them burst into flame. Clark was glad he was a Kryptonian at that point.

"I am not only Death. I am also the Master of Magic."

"And an Avatar of Love." Aphrodite smiled proudly.

"Love would never choose a man!"

Aphrodite was apoplectic with rage. "How dare you think yourself worthy to divine the desires of an Aspect! You are not worthy of leading my Amazons."

Diana gasped; this was getting worse and worse. "Mother please! These are the goddesses, you must respect what they say." She pleaded.

"Even a goddess can be duped by a man. They were created in part by a man." Hippolyta responded with dark sadness.

"Wow. She just insulted three of the most noble and decent goddesses I ever knew in two worlds." Loki said in shock.

The three Greeks had turned around, showing their backs to Hippolyta. They had abandoned her.

"I am taking you back to Clark's home with me." Harry said sadly. "There you will work on a farm and serve a man."

"Never!"

"You have no choice. This one man will teach you that every person is different. You cannot claim they are all evil or not. Eventually you will live in a city, maybe one day you will learn your lesson and the goddesses may grant you a place among the Amazons again."

"I will never serve a man. Nothing you do will change that." She said defiantly.

Harry just shrugged. He turned to the Greeks. "My Ladies, I apologise for the pain and trouble my visit has caused."

"No my Lord!" Artemis knelt quickly. "We apologise. We had sought to bestow a gift on you, but instead _we_ have brought you pain and trouble."

"My Lord, I request a boon from you and your family." Aphrodite said as she and Athena joined Artemis in kneeling.

"Rise My Ladies, and ask." Harry smiled.

"My Lord, my Amazons are without a Queen. I could appoint another Amazon but that would not solve the current problems. I would ask that you grant me leave to offer the crown to Amara Aquilla, not only is she well versed in Greco-Roman ways but she is a being filled with great love."

Clark found himself agreeing with that sentiment. Amara spoke like the goddesses quite often and it was true that she was very nurturing. Dani took joy in working the farm and caring for the animals. But there was something deeper in the way Amara took to the farm.

Harry closed his eyes and a second later Amara was standing there with Dani, Martha and Jonathan.

Everyone ignored Hippolyta's hiss and snarl at Jonathan who was so shocked by the act he actually stumbled back into Dani.

"Amara Aquilla, with your husbands permission I would like to offer you the crown of Themiscyra." Aphrodite smiled warmly at the blonde haired mutant. "I created the Amazons long ago, they suffered horribly at the hands of men but since then they have become insular and hateful of all things male. I believe you would be perfect to lead them on a new path where they may once again become my messengers of peace, love and cooperation."

"This would take me from my husband and family?" Amara said worriedly.

"Not at all. Though you would need to be on hand or available for the Amazons needs, there is no reason you cannot reside with your family. You have the means and technology to make it unnecessary to live on the island at all times. Though I would say that having your family live here at times would be beneficial for the Amazons."

"Might I have time to speak with my family?"

"Of course. We will remain on Themiscyra for a week whilst you make your decision." Aphrodite indicated herself, Artemis and Athena.

"I will try not to take that long." Amara smiled.

The goddesses inclined their heads in acceptance.

Aphrodite then turned to Harry. "We told you that we the gods and goddesses of Olympus had a gift for you here. We present Princess Diana of Themiscyra, moulded from clay and given life by us. Love has granted her a natural soul bond to yourself."

"NOOO!"

The group turned as Hippolyta screamed and ran at Harry with her sword out. She was not quick enough as Athena hefted her spear and threw it at the deposed queen, sending her flying back and pinning her to a column. She slumped there dead.

"Mother!"

"I apologise for giving you more work, Lord Death." Athena grimaced.

Harry sighed. "Don't worry, it does make her easier to deal with." He looked to where he could see the terrified soul of Hippolyta just waiting for Hades to come and get her. "You! Stay right there. I am not done with you."

"Harry, maybe you should deal with the Qu- I mean Miss Hippolyta first. I don't think you can talk to the Princess in her current state." Clark suggested as he indicated the bawling Diana.

"Humph, I suppose you're right." He groused as he walked over to Diana. "Princess, come with me." He said softly as he hooked her elbow with his hand and lifted her to her feet. He led her to the broken body of her mother, pinned to the wall by Athena's spear like a butterfly to a corkboard.

He reached out a hand and Hippolyta's soul appeared causing Diana to gasp. "As you can see, your mother's body is dead but her soul is still here. Athena, would you retrieve your spear please."

Athena strode over, there was a horrendous wrenching noise and blood sprayed everywhere as she pulled the spear from both the pillar and the body.

Harry glared at the embarrassed Athena now that they and Diana were covered in blood.

"My Apologies."

Harry rolled his eyes and cleaned them off with a wave of his hands. He then placed a hand on the corpse and Diana could only watch in awe as the body healed itself.

"Right, you will get in your body and behave yourself or so help me I will turn you over to my goddaughter, and trust me, you don't want me to do that." Harry warned Hippolyta. Without warning he threw her soul into her body causing it to arch and gasp as it sucked in air.

"I will keep her in place, Husband." Brunhilde offered as she stepped forward and clamped a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Thank you dear." Harry smiled at his wife. "Aphrodite, Athena and Artemis. I thank you and the gods of Olympus for your gift and the honest thought that went into it. But might I suggest someone explains it to Diana?"

The look of horror and confusion on Diana's face was enough to make the goddesses wince.

* * *

Lana found herself being dragged along to the castle that evening by Chloe who wanted more information about her being a Phoenix as well as proof.

"Where's Rachel?" Chloe asked as they sat down in the common room.

"We had to send her before the Phoenix Council." Jean scowled. "I love my daughter but she has completely the wrong attitude at times."

"How will you and the others get home?" Lana asked Thor.

"Uncle Harry can send us home or Jean can take us." He shrugged.

"I'll probably do it." Jean said. "I'd rather keep Harry here to handle anything big."

"Will Clark be back for school tomorrow?" Chloe asked.

"Yes, Emma is going to pick him up. Harry and his wives need to stay on the island." Scott said. "Turns out the gift from the gods was a new soul mate. She's the princess of a tribe of Amazon women who were taught that all men are evil."

"Ain't that the truth." Chloe grinned.

"Thou art a lesbian, Chloe?" Thor grinned interested.

Chloe blushed causing Thor to laugh. "Never fails, a woman declares she is done with men but ask her if she is a lesbian and she will quickly affirm that she does indeed… like men."

"What if she really was a lesbian?" Lana challenged.

Thor's smile vanished. "Unfortunately that attitude is usually part of a deeper problem, 'tis a sad thing when a person's orientation is determined by sour experiences with one of the genders."

"Which is precisely the problem that Harry is having to deal with on the island. The Queen ordered her army to attack Harry and Clark as soon as they arrived." Emma scowled. "Her attitude was so bad that the goddesses removed her as Queen and asked for Amara to assume the throne."

"Why Amara?" Chloe asked.

"Amara was born a princess in a Roman civilisation. She was raised to assume the throne of her people before she became an X-Man." Scott answered.

"Does that mean she won't be around so much?"

"Not really, the goddesses have proposed the use of magic and technology so that she can easily travel and communicate with the island as needed. She will probably only spend a few hours a day there."

"Ok, how are you going to prove I am supposed to be a Phoenix?" Chloe asked becoming impatient.

"As Lana is here, if she agrees we will give her a cut on her arm and then put your tears in it. If the tears work like mine did for you then you know you are a Phoenix." Jean explained simply.

"How big of a cut?" Lana asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'll use a numbing charm and there won't be a scar." She smiled reassuringly.

"I can't cry on demand you know."

"Actually you can. Just think about the need for your tears to help others."

"It's a voluntary action?" Lana asked.

"To a degree." Jean allowed. "There has to be a reason to cry beyond wanting a stockpile. When I gave the tears to heal Chloe after the attack at Lex's mansion I cried because I wanted to heal her."

"Is there a limit on how much you can produce? For instance, if you were to sit at the desk in the emergency room, would you be able to cry all day as people came in?"

"All day, non-stop until the patients stopped."

There was a loud sniffle.

"I believe Miss Sullivan has begun creating her first tears." Emma said with an amused smirk.


	21. Chapter 21

Emma teleported herself and Clark straight to her office only to teleport them straight back to Themiscyra.

"Problem?" Harry asked as they had barely time to look away before the pair reappeared.

"I forgot the new Vice-Principal starts today and that I told him to go through the files in my office for a new student. Fortunately he didn't see us."

"We could go to the castle and you could drive us there." Clark suggested.

"We will go to the castle, but you will have to fly or run to the school. I am loathe to start rumours by car-pooling with a student." She grimaced.

"Take two?" Dani asked with a grin.

"Indeed." Emma said as she grabbed Clark's shoulder and they vanished.

"God almighty!"

"My apologies Lex, we didn't know you would be here."

The bald-headed billionaire clutched his chest where it felt like his heart was trying to escape.

"Isn't there a warning charm you can put on the foyer so people know someone is about to try and kill them with shock?" Lex gasped.

"You're young Lex, you'll survive." Clark grinned.

Lex just glared at him.

"There is a charm, but it only alerts us if strangers are coming." Emma explained.

"Please, for the sake of my sanity, adjust it."

"Runes are not my forte, mention it to Jean or Lorna. Why are you here?"

"Looking for Martha or Jonathan. Lana asked me to pick up some baked goods for the Talon."

"Ah. That may be a problem due to Martha and Jonathan spending the night on the island."

"Second honeymoon?" Lex grinned.

"Leeex!" Clark whined.

"Suck it up Clark, your parents are physically fit, attractive and in love. Just be glad that magical sound proofing is effective."

"Do you think I could move in here?" Clark pleaded with Emma.

"What makes you think we don't do what your parents do?" She asked archly.

"Oh I _know_ you do… what you do… " He frowned as he processed that odd statement. "…but you are _not_ my parents!"

"As Lex said, suck it up." Emma replied glibly. She held out her hands and several trays of muffins appeared in them. "I am not really a cook but our children have never complained about my baked goods." There was a slight smirk on her face as she looked at Clark.

"The triplets?" Clark asked innocently. "I don't doubt they would love to munch on your muffins."

The smirk failed slightly. But there was a genuine smile in her eyes now. "Touché Mr. Kent. Touché."

"And here I thought we'd never corrupt Clark." Lex said in awe of the moment.

"Lex, I would appreciate it if you could drive Mr. Kent to school. Circumstance dictates that I must drive myself and despite our conversation I have no desire to fuel rumours by arriving at the school with a student."

"You're going to take the Porsche." Lex smiled knowingly.

"See you at school Mr. Kent, don't be late." She smiled smugly as she strode out.

"Come on Clark, you can fill me in on what I've missed out on these past few days." Lex said as they headed back out to his car.

"Where have you been?"

"My father has moved in and he is very… demanding."

"Want me to smite him?" Clark asked seriously.

"Smite him?"

"I'm a god now. I can do that." He shrugged.

"I _was_ only gone for a few days, right?"

"We are friends with Harry."

"Good point."

* * *

They managed to get to the Talon without Lex dying. It had been a close call as he had nearly run them off the road when Clark explained how he had defeated this world's Thor and been made a god by Odin.

They didn't stay long at the Talon though as Clark had to get to school, although Lana had a free period that morning, hence her being at the Talon.

Clark had insisted on driving the rest of the way to the school as he preferred Lex get there in one piece. That nearly didn't happen when Lex told him about Chloe being a Phoenix and his mother being offered a job by Lionel.

Unfortunately this occurred as they reached the gates as the bell rang. Closing the gates was a tall, broad-shouldered older male; Clark knew that this was the new Vice-Principal from the glance he got of him in Emma's office.

"You're late Mr. Kent." The man stated.

"No sir, the bell just rang."

"And yet here you are outside the gates."

"Only because you are conversing with me sir. So… I guess technically I can't be late as I am now in your care and supervision."

The Principal frowned at him. "I suggest you rethink your friends and acquaintances if this is the attitude you take with your teachers." He said with a scowl at Lex.

"I'm sure Dr. Potter will be sad to hear you think so little of him."

Lex was doing his best to keep his face impassive. It had hurt that Principal Reynolds clearly held him in such low esteem, especially as he personally respected and admired the man. His main problem was Clark. He had never expected Clark to argue with a teacher. He was always the sort to simply accept the blame and move on. Thankfully Clark was being respectful.

"We both know who I'm referring to."

"I was taught never to assume. It never leads to good things."

"I think I will see you in my office, Mr. Kent. I don't like your attitude."

Lex spoke up at that point. "With respect, sir, Clark has been nothing but polite. Maybe a little cheeky but nothing he said is untrue or disrespectful."

"This is a school matter Mr. Luthor, you don't have permission to be on school grounds. Please leave."

Lex thought about arguing the matter but nodded to Clark and pulled out his phone as he headed to his car.

"Follow me Mr. Kent." Reynolds ordered.

Clark sighed as he hitched up his rucksack and followed the new authority figure in his life. He honestly didn't know why he had stood up for himself like that. He placed the blame firmly at the feet of Harry though.

Five minutes later and the bell rang for class and the halls became harder to navigate as students and teachers made their way to their rooms.

"Miss Parker, I still need your transcripts for your file." Reynolds called out to a girl Clark assumed was new.

"Oh, of course sir. I'll check with my parents, see if they can find them." She smiled brightly.

"Come along Kent." He said brusquely.

Many students were surprised that Clark appeared to be in trouble. He was well known for being an example and role model. Nearly all the students knew him from his football fame.

They reached the offices and were intercepted by Emma.

"Both of you follow me." She ordered.

Clark couldn't believe this was going to get worse, but here it was. Reynolds had a huge scowl on his face.

Once in Emma's office she took a seat and indicated the two men to do likewise.

"Now what is going on? I received a phone call from Lex Luthor not two minutes ago requesting that Clark be appointed a teacher advocate as he felt he was being singled out by my new Vice-Principal."

"I caught Mr. Kent coming in late in the company of Mr. Luthor, he was driving Mr. Luthor's car erratically and unsafely. He then proceeded to debate the facts of whether he was late or not."

Emma raised an eyebrow before turning to Clark expectantly.

"There was a slight near accident whilst driving. Lex gave me some startling news. Which is ironic as I caused the same thing on the way to the Talon which is why I insisted on driving the rest of the way here." Clark said, but he was clearly not amused.

"And being late?" She asked.

"I arrived as the bell went. I was two feet the wrong side of the gate but I had plenty of time to make it to class."

"Regardless, he was not on school grounds when the bell went." Reynolds insisted.

"But you don't wish to contest the statement made by Mr. Kent?"

"As he said, he was not on the school grounds when the bell went. I find it discomforting that the Luthors have such a hold on this school."

Emma froze at that. Slowly she turned to Clark. "Mr. Kent, did Miss Lang get the muffins as requested."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Then thank you for running those errands for me this morning." She pulled out a pad and wrote on it before tearing off a page and handing the note to Clark. "That should excuse your lateness to class. Please ensure you make your way there quickly."

Clark heard the dismissal; he grabbed it and ran.

As the door closed Emma turned to Reynolds, her expression was as cold as her name.

"Mr. Reynolds, I do not appreciate the fact that you implied what you did. But the fact that you did so in front of a student is reprehensible."

Reynolds had the good sense to realise his mistake. "I apologise, that was wrong of me. But, I would like to know if I will be contending with Luthors. I have no wish to have to bow to their every whim." He sneered.

"My whims are the only ones you need concern yourself with Terrence." She said with narrowed eyes. "I don't just run this school. I own it. Lock, stock and barrel. Nobody dictates to me how I protect and educate these children. Not Luthors, not Potters and definitely not Reynolds. Am I clear?"

Emma Frost was a formidable woman and highly intimidating despite her apparent youth. "Crystal." Reynolds stated softly.

"Good. Now, I hope that you will put this incident behind you and leave your personal feelings beyond the reach of the school. As long Mr. Kent or any other student abides by the spirit of the rules and law and attempts to learn what they are taught then our only concern should be to encourage them."

"Of course, Miss Frost. Again, I apologise for my poor choices today."

Emma sighed and leaned back in her plush chair. "Terrence, we chose you for this job because we read between the lines of your job history. We respect that you didn't back down from Lionel Luthor despite the massive hit your career and reputation took. James Kwan was a good man, he was clearly hurt that he was overlooked as Principal but he put that hurt aside and did a superb job and showed all of us the utmost respect. What James didn't know was that we planned to promote him to Principal so that I could step down in a few years.

"We intend the same for you if you can prove yourself. Of course that means at the very least putting aside personal prejudices. Lex is a friend of ours. We met him through the Kents, he is nothing like his father and you need to realise that it has been years since you saw the boy and that he is now a man. His _own_ man."

Emma could see that Terrence was sincere in his regret. "Again, I apologise, but I am an old man and it will take time to overcome over a decades worth of hurt."

"Your first apology was enough, Terrence. My advice though is to apologise to Lex. That is just a suggestion; you should attempt to engage the young man. He is a very enigmatic person, when he first came to Smallville he was probably just as you thought him to be. However, he nearly killed himself and Mr. Kent with a reckless car crash and that along with Mr. Kent's friendship has changed him."

Terrence nodded. Although still sceptical he could understand how an event like that could change a man.

"One last thing, just so you are aware. Lex Luthor has asked to take Clark Kent off the grounds for lunch. He was worried about the way Mr. Kent responded to you and wants to make sure there are no underlying problems. Mr. Kent has had some very challenging obstacles recently."

"He really cares for Mr. Kent?"

"Like a little brother." Emma said with a small smile.

"_Medical emergency in the swimming pool! Medical emergency in the swimming pool."_

Both adults stood abruptly at the announcement over the speaker system.

"We'd better investigate, Terrence." Emma scowled as she pulled out her phone called for an ambulance.

* * *

"My God! What happened to him?" Terrence gasped as he looked down at the severely aged student swimmer Troy Turner.

"Jean, I've called for an ambulance. What do you need?" Emma asked, ignoring the shocked vice-principal.

"Harry." Came the terse reply.

"I'll see what can be done." She turned to Terrence Reynolds. "Mr. Reynolds, please get these students to the gym and keep them there. We need ensure that whatever happened to Mr. Turner doesn't happen to anyone else.

"Mr. Kent, head to the showers and scrub. Then return to aid Dr. Grey so she can watch you for symptoms." _"You are likely unaffected due to your new status but Jean might need the help."_ She sent mentally.

"Yes Principal Frost." Clark said before heading off, he had been in the pool at the same time and had rescued Troy from drowning.

The students were soon herded out leaving Jean, Emma and the incapacitated Troy.

"Any guesses, Jean?"

"It's like some one sucked the life out of him. I'd really like Harry to take a look at his soul."

"His soul is fine, Jean." Came Harry's voice as he teleported in next to her.

"Harry! What if someone saw you?"

"You know I always arrive invisible first. Unlike you, Emma." He teased referring to their near miss this morning with Reynolds in her office.

Emma decided to ignore the jibe. "Can you help him?"

"Of course. Giving him his youth back is no different to whatever it is I do to keep you young and healthy. We will diagnose this however we like and suggest that his body will correct itself with a good diet and supplements."

"How long will it take to get his body back to its proper age?"

"I could do it right now. But quite frankly we don't want to be obvious, I will make it happen over say six months or so. We will make him report to my office for mandatory checkups on a weekly basis. He can still attend school."

"Attend school? Harry he looks like he should be on his death bed!"

"He is, technically. But we can boost his system so he is a healthy octogenarian."

"Fine, now for the important question, what caused this? Is this some sort of late onset progeria or is it caused by an external source."

There were a few moments silence as both women waited for Harry to finish his genetic examination.

"External." Was all he was able to say before the paramedics arrived.

Emma and Harry moved away to talk leaving Jean to handle Troy's care.

"I can't detect anything in the water or in this room in general." Harry informed her.

"Which makes sense with only Troy being affected. And this is Smallville." She sighed. "So we likely have an assailant in the school."

"That would be my bet. Who was the last person seen with him?"

"Clark."

"Hmm, I'll have a word with him, see if his powers might have acted up."

"Careful Harry. Lex witnessed an encounter between Clark and Reynolds this morning. Lex was worried enough about Clark's behaviour that he asked for permission to take him out of school at lunch to talk to him."

"Red kryptonite?"

"I saw no signs of that level of behaviour. In truth it seems that Clark merely stood up for himself after being singled out unfairly."

"The stress might be getting to him. I'll talk to him and we will lay off the training for a bit."

* * *

Harry had easily gotten Clark out of the school. He just claimed he wanted him at the hospital for precautionary checks. Those checks were quickly faked and Harry had them back at the island just strolling down the beach.

"Come on Clark, you have everyone worried." Harry pried. "This is not your usual brooding, to be honest we were surprised that Lana breaking up with you didn't have a longer affect. What's bugging you?"

"What's bugging me?" Clark asked a little testily. "I am being told that with all this power I also have all this responsibility. Not only am I out there in Africa helping people with these powers but I am also helping around the farm. That doesn't even begin to deal with the training you put me through.

"But my problem is that I have this power, this responsibility… but where is the respect?" Clark demanded.

"Respect?" Harry frowned.

"If I am forced to behave and act like an adult, why am I constantly treated like a child?"

"Can you give me examples?" Harry asked curiously.

"Not really, it's just a feeling. Today when Reynolds went at me it was the last straw, I decided to use your style of reasoning."

"Alright… first of all, no one thinks you did anything wrong today. Not even Reynolds, Emma had a talk with him and he admitted his issues are with Luthors. Primarily Lionel but that has bled over to Lex.

"Secondly, I think we made a mistake and have pushed you too far too soon. That's not a judgement against you." He added at Clark's hurt look. "But you are only just reaching sixteen. I think it's time to consider this year a form of vacation. Stop going to Africa. Leave that to the others and me. We will handle all these other issues, you only need to deal with things that happen directly to you."

"It doesn't change the way I feel." Clark said sullenly.

"No, and it will be difficult to make any real change. I think I know some of the causes but there isn't much we can do."

"What causes?"

"You spend a lot of your time at the castle, there are three of your teachers there… and Emma, well… she always has that air of authority. I think that's part of the problem. People who outrank you in various ways always surround you. You don't take the time to just enjoy being Clark Kent: Teenager."

"Or I could just be respected more as an adult."

Harry just laughed. "Clark, do you really see me acting like an adult when anything but medicine is involved? Every few years my girls and I go somewhere secluded where we can spend the entire time naked and screwing like… teenagers. Now, I can't advise that yet, but why don't you invite Chloe, Lana and Lex to go somewhere. Anywhere. I'll pay."

Clark grimaced. He didn't have the same hang-ups as his father did at using other people's money, but it still didn't sit right with him.

"Hmm, how about a taste of the future, I could take you to Sif's home. They would love you there. There is very little trouble and what trouble there is is handled very easily."

"What if there is trouble here?"

"Clark, I've been saving humanity since before humanity existed in this world. I can handle it."

* * *

Terrence Reynolds entered the Talon at nearly gone 7pm that evening. They had managed to calm the students and assure them that none of them were currently at risk but they still didn't know what the problem was.

"Mr. Reynolds, I was hoping you might let me buy you a drink."

Terrence was startled by the voice but very surprised to see Lex Luthor standing there.

He immediately tried to clamp down on the negative feelings that Luthor's brought up. "No Mr. Luthor. But perhaps you would let me buy you a coffee. I believe I owe you an apology for jumping to conclusions today." He sighed.

Lex frowned but nodded. They both got their drinks before Lex led them to a booth in the corner where they could have some privacy.

"I have to say I was pleased to discover you would be the vice-principal for Smallville High. Emma Frost has excellent taste and judgement. But I was surprised you would take a position in such an unassuming place. I thought you were somewhere in Europe heading prestigious academies."

Terrence was about to jump down Lex's throat for the jibe at his career woes, but then he realised that Lex appeared to be sincere. There was none of that underlying snideness and mocking that his father was famous for when delivering a put down.

"Do you not know why I was fired from Excelsior?"

"Fired? I thought you simply moved on." Lex leaned forward.

Terrence sighed. "Lex, I was fired because I tried to expel you for _that_ incident. Your father intervened and had me fired."

The look on Lex's face was one of distraught. "_I_ got you fired?"

"You were the catalyst, so to speak. It was all your father's doing."

"God, no wonder you hate me."

"Hate is a strong word."

"If it fits."

"It might, but as Miss Frost pointed out today, I need to avoid painting you with the same brush as your father."

There was a moment's silence before Lex spoke up. "My advice, if you wish, is to follow Emma Frost's lead carefully. This school might seem like a dead end but she has the means and motivation to take it places. Although they probably won't want to do that considering some aspects of this town."

"You mean like the meteor infected?"

"What do you mean?" Lex feigned ignorance.

Terrence just smirked. "It's good to see I haven't lost my touch for reading the faces of rich young boys. Miss Frost revealed to me the issues they have had with meteor rocks."

Lex sighed in relief. "Actually, they are calling it Kryptonite now. Dani Moonstar, your school counsellor discovered that no one had registered and named the stuff so she did so."

"I haven't met her yet. Or Doctor Potter or Coach Kinney."

"They had a bit of an issue to deal with. I heard they should be back tomorrow." Lex assured him. "Another piece of advice. You will notice that Emma, Scott, Laura and Dani will order Harry around and push him playfully. But make no mistake; he is the power behind their group. If you watch you will notice that in a crisis they all take their cues from him."

"I heard some disturbing rumours about him and some of the girls. A miss Felice Chandler, Chloe Sullivan and Lana Lang?" He frowned.

Lex laughed. "With regards to Felice, the best thing you can do is make random and frequent stops at Harry's office. Felice is attempting to seduce Harry and Harry has resorted to sharing an office with Dani to protect himself."

He then turned slightly more serious.

"Harry is something of a mentor to Clark Kent, Lana and Chloe are good friends of Clark's so he knows them pretty well. Harry and I are actually investing in Lana Lang's dream so there is a business aspect there, as for Chloe, there were some issues with her Torch editorials and she took the demotion badly, this was before Dani became the counsellor."

"You and Dr. Potter are investing in an underage girls dream?" Terrence asked with a raised eyebrow.

"How's your coffee?" Lex smirked.

Terrence frowned at the non sequitur. "Fine."

"Courtesy of Lana Lang and her dreams of returning the Talon to its original glory. Wait here a moment." Lex put his mug down and walked to the counter and spoke to female barista. She nodded before picking up a phone on the wall as Lex returned to the table.

"She'll be here in a minute. She has good potential for business." Lex smiled.

"Wasn't it risky investing in a coffee shop when one already existed in such a small town?"

"Very, and when she approached me I wasn't going to go through with it. But I discussed it with Harry, he offered to buy the building and restart the movie theatre section whilst leasing the coffee shop to me. Lana runs both with Scott Summers as the Manager."

"It seems everywhere I look there is one of Miss Frost's friends involved in a new aspect of the town."

"They have every intention of buying as much of the town as they can for the sole purpose of preserving the heart and culture. They are very community orientated."

Terrence kept his face neutral as he nodded. He didn't care how noble these people seemed with their intentions, when the rich started buying up rural areas it was usually bad news for the locals.

"Lana, have you met your new Vice-Principal?" Lex asked as the ebony haired girl walked up with a laptop in hand.

"No, it's nice to meet you sir." She said politely.

"Miss Lang." Terrence nodded. "Mr. Luthor tells me this coffee shop and movie theatre are your idea."

"The coffee shop was, the movie theatre was a pipe dream that Harry brought to life." She nodded with a slight blush.

"But the majority of the work is yours." Lex added. "Harry made sure you had the best equipment that would last but he has left most of the details in your hands."

"It's very impressive." Terrence acknowledged. "How old are you Miss Lang, fifteen, sixteen?"

"Sixteen in a few weeks sir."

"Very impressive. Do you keep a journal?"

"I rarely have time for that anymore. Between this, cheerleading, the Torch and general school work I don't have a lot of free time to sit down and write."

"I recommend you try, it will be very beneficial when you begin to apply for colleges."

"Your laptop has a camera, try making a short video entry each day." Lex suggested.

"I wouldn't know what to talk about." She admitted.

"I'll see if I can find Lorna or Amara this evening. Those two sound like the best options for this sort of advice." Lex offered.

"Advice for what?"

"Coach Summers? Of course, Mr. Luthor mentioned you were the manager here." Terrence realised as the tall brown haired man walked up.

"Mainly for legal reasons and safety of course."

"We were just discussing Lana keeping a journal for college. She doesn't have time to write but she has a laptop and a camera so she could make a video journal." Lex explained.

"But, again, I wouldn't know what to discuss."

"Easily sorted. I will arrange for us to record our weekly meetings. They are always informative and will show you interacting with your colleagues."

Lana was very relieved; she really didn't have the time for more things. She was hoping to convince Principal Frost to let Chloe take over the Torch again.

"It's nearly 8 Lana. Call it a night." Scott ordered.

"I can stay till 9."

"No you can't. You need your sleep. You have cheerleading tomorrow and the game on Saturday."

"Please?" She didn't want to beg.

"Fine. Lex, can you drive Lana to the castle?"

Lex frowned. "Of course." He said as he stood and made his goodbyes to Vice-Principal Reynolds.

Scott noticed the disapproving look he got from Terrence, he smiled. "Lana is friends with my daughters. She doesn't want to go home as she lives with her single Aunt and she has a new boyfriend. She will likely call Chloe Sullivan and they will have a sleep over."

"Every time I turn around I find you, Miss Frost and your… friends, involved in another aspect of this town."

"It's a small town."

"45,000 is not that small."

"No, but when you consider the size of Main Street then you have to realise that everyone knows the proprietors of those stores and their employees. Six-degrees of separation becomes more like three-degrees."

* * *

The following day Harry called the new girl, Chrissy, into his office. He had been watching the students enter the school; it was nearly impossible to simply say that a student was responsible because they were kryptonite infected as nearly every student was… except Chrissy Parker. Harry knew something was off as the one thing he couldn't stop seeing was magic and souls and there was no way Chrissy was 16.

"So how old are you exactly? Do you even know?" Harry asked as he gestured for Chrissy to take a seat opposite his desk. Dani was perched on the windowsill behind him.

"Sixteen. It's in my records." She frowned.

"Nah, I'm talking about your real age. My estimate is at least five millennia."

Chrissy laughed, there was a hint of nervousness in it. "That's impossible, nobody lives that long!"

"She's over one hundred thousand and I'm over twenty million. You're just a child compared to us." Harry shrugged. "It doesn't matter, you have killed far too many people for me to consider just locking you up. Quite the body count you have. You could put the holocaust and the entire death count of world war II to shame, couldn't you?" Harry said mildly.

Chrissy frowned. "What are you?"

Harry smirked. "I am the one thing you have been running from all these years. I am Death."

"Death is a dragon, a big black dragon that devours the souls of those deemed unworthy of even hell." She said, but she was sweating slightly.

"I'm only a dragon some of the time. Also, I don't devour the souls. I destroy them. Let me demonstrate." Harry's hand came up and a blast of green light hit Chrissy in the chest, killing her. Harry walked through the table and grabbed Chrissy's soul and destroyed it.

He then waved a hand disintegrating the left over body.

"Now I have to do the hard part." Harry sighed as he looked at Dani.

"We could just have the telepaths make people think she ran away." Dani offered.

"No, they don't like doing that and I don't like them doing that." He ran a frustrated hand through his messy black hair. He then closed his eyes and concentrated.

Dani smirked as Harry morphed into the spitting image of Chrissy Parker. She then transfigured his clothes into what Chrissy was wearing.

"I hate bras." Harry groused in Chrissy's voice.

"Welcome to the club."

"I prefer to be a supporter of the club, not a member."

"Are you going to hitchhike or grab a bus?"

"Bus. The camera's will catch me leaving and the dead end at the first stop will confuse any investigators."

"Make sure you're back for dinner."

* * *

It was a few days later that Lorna Dane stood outside the door of a non-descript apartment in Star City waiting for her knock to be answered.

When the door opened she saw a twenty-something year old woman with dark brown hair who stood at about her own height.

"Tess Mercer? My name is Lorna Dane, I have some important information for you."

"What information?" Tess asked suspiciously.

"About your birth parents."

"I was abandoned at an orphanage as a child. My parents wanted nothing to do with me then so why would I want anything to do with them now?" She hissed angrily.

"Your father abandoned you after he essentially stole you from your mother. She recently got free of your father and was able to inform your half-brother of your existence. Both were desperate to find you and make sure you were ok."

"What do you mean 'stole me'?" She asked.

"Could we go inside and sit down? When you hear the names of the parties involved and the reasons you might understand a bit better. You'll hate your father with a vengeance but you'll see that your mother had little choice in the matter."

"Alright, but don't try anything." Tess was still jumpy having just returned from being held prisoner on a remote island. She had only escaped after their captors murdered her best friend. She only managed the escape because of the serendipitous discovery of the shipwrecked Oliver Queen.

Lorna smiled and stepped into the apartment.


	22. Chapter 22

Clark was finishing up his article for Lana before heading for class. Amara … or rather Queen Amara was getting back into the swing of things. She continued working the farm with Martha and Jonathan and also helped Jonathan keep a very stubborn Hippolyta in line.

The woman was an absolute nightmare.

Harry had his own companion today as he was showing Diana around the school. She was going to be spending a week at the castle investigating Smallville before Harry took her back to the island. He didn't want her to get too homesick. For now they were ignoring the soul bond issue in favour of letting nature take it's course.

"Clark? Clark Kent?"

Clark looked up from packing his bag to see an auburn haired older lady standing in the doorway.

"Can I help you?"

She looked at him with joyful tear filled eyes. "I'm your mother."

Clark's face took on a look of pure anger that the woman mistook for something else.

"I know it's hard to believe, but your name is Lucas an-"

"Stop." Clark said tightly. "Follow me."

Clark stormed passed the woman and headed straight for Clark's office. He didn't bother knocking as he barged in only to find Dani there alone.

"Where's Harry?" He demanded heatedly.

"Somewhere in the school." Dani said cautiously. Outside the window dark clouds began to gather. An ominous rumble came from the sky. "Clark, calm down." Dani said sternly. "I'll call Harry."

She picked up the phone, mainly for show due to the strange woman standing behind Clark, and put out a mental call for Harry to get to the office post haste.

Fortunately Harry and Diana were only seconds away.

"Clark, what's the problem?" Harry asked briskly as he entered and perched on his desk as Dani took Diana to a corner where they could watch and not be in the way.

"This- _woman_ - just came up to me claiming she is my mother and that my name is Lucas." Clark growled.

Harry raised an eyebrow whilst looking at the woman. "Simple mistaken identity." Harry shrugged. "I know for a fact that Clark is not your son because I knew his parents."

"My son was given up for adoption to Metropolis United Charities by his father Lionel Luthor and I checked and know he went to the Kents." She declared.

"Sure, but I gave my little brother to the Kent's when he was young after our parents died. I wasn't able to care for him myself. MUC merely brokered the adoption."

"You're lying!"

"Easy way to prove it." Harry smirked. "But for now I must insist you stay away from my brother. I advise not pushing the matter directly and letting the courts handle this and prove the facts."

"You can't keep me away from my son." She argued.

"I have no intention of keeping you away from your son. Problem is, that is not your son." He pointed at Clark. "So, please exit the building in which you are currently trespassing before I call the police."

"That will not be possible." Came the voice of Emma Frost as she entered the room with Scott. "As you said, Dr. Potter, she is trespassing. I have already called the Sheriff. Please come with us and we will wait for the Sheriff in the interview room."

The woman looked around furiously but could see she had no other options.

She was escorted out behind Emma as Scott brought up the rear.

"Brother?" Clark asked incredulously.

Harry just shrugged. "You know its bullshit, I know its bullshit… but I can make it work and it will prevent any idiots trying to gain custody of you."

"What if they ask for a blood test?"

Harry just snorted. He waved a hand and to vials of blood appeared on his desk. "This is my blood and this is the blood of my imaginary half brother. They will pass any test unless they manage to get a hair or DNA sample from you without my knowledge."

"What will happen with that woman?"

"She wasn't lying." Harry saw Clark about to protest and hurried on. "She believed every word she said. She also wasn't insane in any manner so that leaves the possibility that she did have a son under the circumstances she gave. Which also means Lex probably has another half-sibling out there."

"But how did she even find me?" Clark asked. "I thought the adoption process was private."

"It is, but let's face it, with enough money you can get anything." Harry said disgustedly.

"Go head off to class Clark and ignore this as best you can." Dani instructed. "If she approaches you again then call the Sheriff or us. You are a minor in the care of two respected adults and no one is allowed to just walk up to you and take you away without permission, that permission will come from your parents, a social worker or the Sheriff."

"And if she gets those?"

"I already have Amara working on a restraining order. She will have to get that over turned first and that will alert Amara."

Clark nodded unhappily as he turned and headed off to class.

"You lied to that woman?"

Dani and Harry turned to the previously ignored Diana who was still standing in the corner.

"Take a seat Diana." Harry offered. "Lying is never the option we want to take, but the world is not ready to know about certain things like me being Death or Clark being both and alien and a god. They also aren't ready to know about your origins."

"But lying-"

"The truth would have hurt her. The truth would have hurt Clark." Dani said softly. "There will come a time when we can stop lying and tell the truth, but for now we live in secret, much like the Amazons do. Don't think of us as lying, think of us as hiding."

Diana's eyes widened at the implied accusation. "Amazons do _not_ lie!"

"Then the Amazons wouldn't mind if we told the rest of the world all about Themiscyra and its inhabitants."

Diana was torn, there appeared to be no way to actually have it both ways. Either the Amazons stopped hiding and revealed their presence to the world or they stayed hidden, a form of a lie.

"Relax Diana." Dani said reassuringly. "Neither we nor the gods disapprove of the Amazons way of living or their secrecy. But you have to realise that the reasons for hiding on Themiscyra are far greater for us. We can't just stay silent and hope no one notices us; we have to actively create stories to protect ourselves. Which is why we call you Diana Prince."

Diana shuddered. "I do not like it. It feels wrong and dirty. But I do understand."

"The important part is that you understand." Harry said standing up. "It should never feel right to lie to others. Even if it is to protect yourself or them. When it starts to feel right you will find it very difficult to stop lying."

* * *

It was lunchtime and Dani, Harry and Diana were seated in the Doctor's Office eating their meal so that Harry and Dani could be available to anyone who needed them. Then they heard the shouting.

"That's Clark." Dani muttered as she stood up and headed out.

"Should we not help?" Diana asked.

"Nah, there is very little that Dani can't handle. She'll call if she needs backup."

Dani stormed angrily towards the Torch where the shouting was coming from.

"Clark Kent! What the hell are screaming and hollering about?"

"_She_ is the reason that woman was here claiming to be my mother!" He pointed a finger accusingly at Chloe.

Lana and the trips where seated nearby just cringing at the whole scene.

Dani was confused as to why the Trips hadn't intervened.

"She deserved it." Mindee scowled at Chloe as she answered Dani's thoughts. There were no secrets between the bonded.

"She ignored Amara's teachings and pried into Clark's personal life and adoption." Celeste continued.

"Stupid bitch posted Clark's details on an adoption website." Phoebe sneered.

"I didn't know about Clark's '_past_' at the time." Chloe tried to defend herself.

"That makes absolutely no difference Sullivan." Dani scowled angrily. "You were told not to invade other's privacy despite the fact that Celeste set a fine example for you by not involving your mother."

"Time for you to learn a lesson Chloe." Phoebe said quietly. "You came so close to having your life splayed open like a book twice now. First when Celeste refrained from looking your mother up for an assignment and secondly when Amara and the Sheriff avoided investigating you thoroughly when you were abducted.

"Now we are going to find your mother. We are going to overturn every single secret in your life and you will learn the lesson the hard way."

"NO!" Chloe screamed.

"Isn't there another way?" Lana asked, she didn't agree with what Chloe had done, she just didn't want anyone else to suffer.

"Of course there are other ways Lana." Mindee said as she placed a calming hand on the ebony haired girls shoulder. "But we tried those already and she learnt nothing."

"You called?" Harry asked as he and Diana entered the office, Dani having put out a mental request to Harry.

"You heard what happened?" Dani asked.

"The girls kept us in the loop." He nodded to the Cuckoos.

"Clark needs to go home. He needs a break. I also want to send Chloe to the Amazons for a while. She is not going to learn her lessons here." Dani explained.

"Ok. Talk to Amara about the Amazons. You will need to get permission from her father first for her to go on a trip. Clark, we will just say you are going on a trip for academic experience." Harry said.

* * *

"I still don't like leaving here, if something goes wrong-"

"I will be staying along with my wife and sister." Thor assured the young godling. "Even if we were not, Uncle Harry is more than capable of caring for a single planet on his own."

Both Clark and Thor were standing at the window in the barn loft. In about an hour Jean would be taking him to her home universe so he could relax and be fifteen. He would be back for Christmas and his birthday but he had at least a month to just relax.

"Did you hear Harry's plan for dealing with DNA claims? He's going to claim to be my older brother." Clark chuckled.

Thor's head snapped round so fast there was a gust of wind. He had a large smile on his handsome face. "Truly? He must really have a lot of faith in you Clark Kent. His words are not idle. If he claims you as his brother, no matter the reason he truly means it. Such is the way when he claimed me as his godson."

"I didn't think the Norse had those sort of relationships." Clark frowned.

"They do not. But Harry walked in and said it was so and neither I nor my family have regretted it once in the many millennia we have been such."

"Packed Clark?" Jean asked she trotted up the stairs.

"Packed? Harry said I shouldn't bother taking anything."

"Ok, I suppose he wanted you to get everything there." She shrugged. "Come on, let's go and say good bye to your parents."

The two gods of thunder and a phoenix made their way to kitchen where Jonathan and Martha where waiting nervously.

"It's not that big of a deal." Jean sighed. "Harry took Clark on this trip before, remember?"

"Yes, but this time he will be gone for a lot longer." Jonathan frowned unhappily.

"He will be in a place where he doesn't need to hide who or what he is. This will really be a vacation for him." Jean said.

"Yes, he should try some of the American Football games." Thor smiled. "It is a much different game when your teammates and opponents have similar abilities to you."

The phone rang at that moment and Clark instinctively picked it up. "Hello?"

"_Clark? Save me! It's Ryan."_

"Ryan? Ryan! Where are you?"

There was no response as Clark heard the dial tone.

"Trips postponed." He said as he put the phone down. "Ryan's in trouble, I need to find him."

"We can handle it Clark." Jean assured him.

"I know, but Ryan asked _me_ for help. I need to do this." Clark said firmly.

"Spoken like a true hero, Lord Odin will be most proud." Thor stated. "The trip may wait a day or so. Our home universe will not vanish."

* * *

It hadn't taken much for Laura to track down the origin of the call whilst Dani discovered that Ryan and his aunt had dropped off the face of the Earth. Harry and Clark now stood outside the Summerholt Institute in Metropolis the following morning.

"Ok Clark, let me take the lead this time." Harry said.

"Ryan called _me_." Clark insisted.

"Yes, but the last time you tried to save Ryan you left me with a lovely mess to clean up. Honestly, why would you rip open the back of a garbage truck? There's a big red emergency stop button on the side!" Harry griped.

"I was in a rush."

"Exactly! You need to learn to think quickly and calmly before you rush in and cause yourself more problems. Now, let's go get Ryan."

Clark was a little ticked off at the lecture but he had to admit Harry had a point.

They quickly walked in and headed for the receptionist, a young lady who looked quite pleasant and genial. "Welcome to Summerholt. How can we help you?"

"Yes, we are here to see Ryan James. He called us last night from here and asked us to come. He is probably not listed as a patient, but more of an experiment." Harry smiled; there was no warmth in it.

The receptionist frowned. "Let me check our records. No, I can't see anyone with the name 'Ryan', 'James' or anything similar."

"He's on the fourth floor." Clark said.

Harry just looked at him and nodded.

"That's a restricted area. I'll have to call- Ah, Dr, Garner, these gentlemen are looking for someone called Ryan James." She called out to a well-dressed man.

"I am afraid we don't have anyone by that name here." The man frowned.

"We know he's here. He called us from here last night." Harry assured him. "We also know he is on the fourth floor. So, why don't you show us to the fourth floor and prove us wrong?"

"I'm sorry, the fourth floor holds our proprietary work. It's all secret and protected to prevent industrial espionage. And I know who you are, Dr. Potter. You of all people wouldn't be allowed down there as our biggest rival."

"How can I be your biggest rival?" Harry asked in confusion. "I've never met or heard of you until last night."

"But we have heard of you and your interference in Gotham's Arkham Asylum. You are considered a menace by the neurological community."

"Because I proved Crane was experimenting on his patients?"

"That is hearsay."

"Not according to the courts." Harry snorted. "Now, take us to level four. Or else."

"I don't appreciate threats, Dr. Potter. Leave now and you might just miss the cops." Garner frowned.

"Go ahead punk. Make my day."

Clark turned and walked away. Harry was nuts, he had no idea why he would start quoting Harry Callahan.

Something caught Clark's eye on the wall and an idea came to mind. His hand zipped out at super speed and he tugged the little red lever.

Alarms went off and water started pouring from the ceiling.

Clark vanished in a blur.

Harry looked around for Clark and suddenly noticed Clark's soul already three levels down.

He sighed. "At least he had a plan." He muttered to himself.

* * *

Clark easily made his way to the fourth floor. His first instinct was to knock out the two guards standing outside Ryan's room. Then he thought to himself: What would Harry do?

A quick glance through the walls of the various rooms gave him an idea. He easily broke the lock on an office and grabbed a lab coat and the ID attached.

The man on the ID looked nothing like him but he had a plan for that. Using his heat vision he began singeing various parts of the coat and a large portion of the id image. He then donned the coat and headed out.

"You two. Get the boy and bring him upstairs. Garner wants to use the commotion to get him out unseen." Clark ordered the guards.

"What happened?" One of the guards asked.

"Electrical overload. It's contained but the fire department is en route and we need to get the boy out. Use the main entrance and hide him in the crowds. I'll meet you up there."

Both men nodded and got to work.

Amara had told him that if he wanted people to respect him he had to show confidence. As long as you looked the part the average person wouldn't question you. She proved this when she took him to the Smallville bank and began barking orders for people to get her the reports for the last year.

The staff had been so befuddled that they had been in and out in thirty minutes and it had taken weeks before they pinned it on Amara. Not that there was anything they could do as she had asked and they had given.

It was a useful ploy as the soon fired employees were now waiting for the new bank built by Harry to open so they could start work.

Clark watched as the guards led a feebly struggling Ryan out of the room. He was dressed in nothing but thin sleep pants. Clark resisted the urge to just snatch Ryan and run. He needed to let this play out.

The building was generally empty and Clark had no trouble zipping to corners and doorways to watch the guards manhandle Ryan to the entrance. He stopped them in the lobby.

Clark stepped forward and sent a look at Ryan praying his young friend would keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately Ryan couldn't read his mind. That was very annoying at a time like this. "Excellent. There is another doctor outside who will be taking responsibility for the patient. Report to the officials so they know not to search the building for you."

"He's gonna stand out like a sore thumb dressed like that." One of the men pointed out, unaware of whom he was helping.

"True." Clark removed his lab coat and threw it Ryan. "Put that on and keep quiet." He ordered harshly.

Ryan complied quietly.

"Ok gentlemen, let's go." Clark ordered.

The group of four moved to the doors and opened them carefully. Clark carefully scanned the crowd for Harry. "Our contact is over there. The black haired man with glasses."

They moved forward towards the waiting Harry.

"Doctor, this is the patient." Clark said formally. "I trust you can handle it from here?"

"Yes, thank you Doctor Kent." Harry responded, playing along. "I just need to get a few notes from you."

Clark took the needed opportunity and turned to the two guards. "That will be all, gentlemen. The smaller the group the less noticeable."

"Yes Doctor." One of them said before the pair moved off.

"This way." Harry snapped his fingers.

Ryan and Clark followed silently, Clark tried to make sure he kept walking with the same air of confidence and belonging just so no one looked twice at him.

"Hey! Stop them!"

"Well, you got him out in the open." Harry sighed as he patted Clark's shoulder as they turned to face the approaching Doctor Garner and the guards who had just made sure they lost their jobs. "Did you have a plan for after we got a hold of Ryan?"

"They claimed they don't have Ryan. Couldn't Amara tie them up in the courts for a while? Prove they were lying and use the time to build a case?"

"Urgh! I hate playing with legalities. Too many loopholes. Go and find a cop, will you?"

"Sure." Clark nodded.

Harry smiled down at Ryan. "Thanks for the commentary."

"Thanks for saving me." Ryan smiled back weakly.

"_We never abandon our friends, Ryan."_ Jean's telepathic voice came in their heads.

Whilst Clark was saving Ryan, Harry called in Jean to provide a link to Ryan so they could keep him calm and informed. It wasn't entirely necessary as Clark did well, but it helped.

"Dr. Garner, is there a problem?" Harry asked innocently.

"You know damn well what the problem is Potter!" Garner snarled.

The two guards moved in to try and take Ryan but Clark was instantly between them.

"Is there a problem here gentlemen?" Came a female voice, filled with authority.

"Officer, this man is attempting to kidnap this young boy from our custody. I want him arrested." Garner demanded.

"Ohhh." Harry hissed with an exaggerated wince. "Swing and a miss. This is a Captain, Captain Sawyer according to her name tag." Harry said patronisingly. "Also, Ryan called us last night and claimed he was being held unlawfully." He informed Captain Sawyer. "We attempted to ascertain the validity of this over the course of the night. We came to Summerholt to investigate and Dr. Garner here informed us that they had never heard of anyone by that name.

"Now, I am registered as the personal physician for Ryan James here and my young associate's parents are listed as contacts and foster parents. I trust you won't object to us taking Ryan to the hospital in order to have him checked out whilst you attempt to confirm or deny Dr. Garner's claims?"

Sawyer frowned. She didn't like Garner straight off the bat. He acted like an entitled little rich boy. She was loath to let the boy out of sight considering the story the other man had told her.

"Salvos!" She called over her shoulder. A male officer jogged up. "Run these three up to the hospital. The boy needs checking out. They are not to leave the city without my say so and you are not to leave their sight. Am I clear?"

"Yes Ma'am."

* * *

"Damn it Ryan, you've really been screwed over." Harry scowled as he looked over the scans the hospital had taken.

"What's wrong?" Clark asked worriedly.

"According to what I am seeing here Ryan has about a week to live."

"A week?!" Clark gasped.

Harry looked at him weirdly. "What are you worried about? Did you forget who his doctor is? Ryan isn't going anywhere."

"You really shouldn't worry so much Clark." Ryan said sternly.

Clark could only smile at his young friend's bravery.

"Ok, so what will you do? Is this going to be like Troy, a gradual healing process?"

"No, with something like this I will just heal him and be done with it. We can fake some scans as needed."

A few minutes later and Captain Sawyer arrived with a very familiar and welcome blonde.

"Amara!" Ryan greeted happily.

"Hello Ryan. Got yourself in another spot of trouble?" She smiled.

"It wasn't my fault!" He argued mildly.

"Yes, Harry and Clark both say the same things. For Clark it's usually true, not so much with Harry." She smirked.

Ryan couldn't help the laugh at Harry's indignant look.

"Dr. Potter, Miss Aquilla has provided us with a temporary court order granting you custody of Ryan James. I have to say that I am not pleased with what I have heard about Summerholt and as a result I am reluctant to let Mr. James leave considering the report the doctors gave me and the recent issues."

"Hey, Ryan. If you had three options, to stay here in the hospital for a few days where the doctors and nurses would take care of you, stay with Harry at his castle or stay with my parents, which would you choose?" Clark asked calmly.

Ryan frowned in thought for a moment. "Could I stay with your parents?"

"They are waiting by the phone for news." Amara smiled. "Captain, as you can see, Ryan knows what he wants and being in a happy and calming environment will be beneficial to his health and recovery."

"Recovery?" Sawyer asked, she mentally kicked herself for sounding so sceptical in front of the boy who was a week away from death.

"Ryan knows the severity of his health." Harry assured her. "He also knows that I have access to technology and methods that means he has nothing to worry about."

She has some experience with people suffering from tumours in the brains and what she heard was hopeless. But if someone could save the boy she wouldn't deny him the chance at life.

"Alright. I don't really have any say in the matter. But I do want Ryan back here once a week for the first month just to talk to him and keep an eye on him." She said firmly.

"It would be easier for you to get out to the town. Better for Ryan's health as well." Harry pointed out. "If you call my office I can arrange for my helicopter to ferry you back and forth."

Sawyer grimaced.

"Fear of flying?" Clark asked. "I had the same problem."

"How did you get over it?" She asked.

Clark opened his mouth but couldn't think of an answer.

Harry just laughed. "Gradually increased height base jumping and hand gliding. The key is getting yourself acclimatised to the heights and technology. Unlike a fear of spiders, mice or other living creatures, things like heights and agoraphobia can be combated more easily through gradual exposure as you prove to yourself that you can control the situation.

"Fear of spiders and mice are more difficult as you can't predict the behaviour of the creatures. There is always the fear the creature will bite, jump, sting or whatever."

"I think I'll stick to driving for now." Sawyer said firmly.

"We'll arrange a car for you. Let you get some rest or work done in transit." Amara assured her. "There is little point in putting more on the plate of a public servant like yourself and we can arrange it through official channels to prevent any implications of impropriety."

Sawyer still thought it sounded dodgy but she would leave it to her bosses to decide.

* * *

It had been a long day. Clark was finally off with Jean, Ryan was settled in at the Kent's and both Lorna and Harry were now back at the castle. Harry had just finished telling his story to the group plus Lana and Lex. Lana was escaping her aunt and Lex his father. There had been a lot of imitation chicken noises from Dani.

"Do you know what they were doing to Ryan?" Lana asked.

"Injecting him with some sort of compound and trying to increase and prove his telepathy. Whatever they were using caused the section of his brain that enables telepathy to develop tumours. They're all gone now but he might have a few nightmares." Harry said dismissively, nobody doubted the Kent's ability to comfort the young boy.

"Now, I know Lex is dying to hear about his long lost sister." He said with a pointed look at the young billionaire.

"I'm not ashamed to admit it." Lex said seriously as he looked to Lorna.

"She is sceptical." She informed them. "But at the same time she is willing to listen. She's carried a lot of resentment for her birth parents, even though she didn't know their identities, because of how she was abandoned. The only reason she listened is because you were an innocent child at the time, unfortunately your reputation in Metropolis precedes you Lex." She grimaced.

"Bottom line?" Scott asked.

"She has Lex's number."

"The wait and see game." He nodded.

Lex sighed unhappily, but resigned. "I suppose I can't blame her. I did just find out I might have another sibling out there." He scowled. "Rachel Dunleavy, the woman who claimed Clark was her son confronted me today. I assured her that he wasn't, but that just means there might be more to the story."

"I'll look into it Lex." Dani promised.

"I'm going to need more help around here." Lorna pointed out. "Before now the school was all paperwork. Jodie and Jeremy are easy student to handle in the evenings, Ryan we know well enough not to worry but that's three students I have plus the paperwork."

"Whilst we are here we can provide help." Thor offered. "I had thought to see if Scott would like my aid in assisting his coaching at the school."

"You're more than welcome." Scott said.

"Oh yes." Emma said sarcastically. "Let's not forget the fact that he has no legal identity in this world or that I can't provide proof of his history for the authorities."

"Relax Emma. I put them in the database the day they arrived." Laura smiled. "Thor and Sif Odinson and Thor's sister Loki."

Emma just glared at her.

"They're parents were traditionalists." She shrugged as they could hear Dani and Loki snickering away.

"Well that still leaves me to visit Gabe Sullivan tomorrow to discuss Chloe." Lorna sighed.

"Actually I think Emma and I should do it. It would be better if the information came from officials." Dani pointed out.

"I think we should tell him the truth about magic." Phoebe said firmly.

"It will help him relate to his daughter more easily." Mindee said.

"And understand what we are doing." Celeste finished.

"Lex, you know him best. What's your impression of him? How will he react?" Harry asked.

"He's a good man. When I'm not around he runs the plant and I was going to promote him to plant manager. It will be a shock to his relatively normal life but I think he can handle it."

"We'll leave the details in your hands then." Harry nodded to Dani.

"I'll come too. He needs to understand his daughter's potential." Jean said firmly.

"Poor Gabe." Lex muttered. "Confronted by three supermodels. I think I'll give him tomorrow off." He said as he stood and pulled out his phone.

"Dani, I was hoping you could help me with something." Lana said nervously as she passed a photograph along the Cuckoos to Dani. "Apparently my parents were legally separated for year before I was born. My dad might not be my dad."

"Wow… you definitely have some interesting heritage." Dani smirked. "This is Henry Small of the Smallville Smalls. The town founders."

"And here I thought this town was named after its quaintness." Emma drawled.

"I'll see if I can find anything out and see if he is receptive." She promised.

"Thank you. There is one other thing." She said as she turned to Amara who was sitting opposite next to Thor. "What would it take for me to be emancipated?"

That one caused a lot of raised eyebrows.

"Are you having trouble with your Aunt?" Amara asked.

"Not in a bad way, but she and her boyfriend are moving to Metropolis, I don't want to leave my home and school. I grew up here, my parents were here."

"It could take months to get emancipation." Amara warned. "You would need your Aunt's permission to remain with an adult whilst here."

"Or we could buy her house and Scott, Emma the Cuckoos and I could move in with Lana." Jean offered.

"Oh lord." Scott groaned. "At least here I have Harry."

"Do stop whining dear." Emma calmly ordered. "The triplets are biologically and legally my daughters. You and I are legally married and Jean could easily live with us legally. Providing room and board to their school friend until she is old enough to support herself will not be an issue."

"I would want her Aunt to sign over legal custody though." Jean said firmly. "If I'm going to be responsible for Lana I need to be able to make the necessary decisions on her behalf without phoning her Aunt each time and having to explain the situation."

"Much simpler." Amara nodded. "If you agree Lana."

"It will be weird having so many people in the house. But it would be nice as well."

"Every night will be a sleep over!" Mindee cried happily as she grabbed Lana in a hug.

Lana began to have a niggling of doubt over whether she would survive the following years with her sanity intact.


	23. Chapter 23

The following day they were surprised when Clark and Jean returned.

"How did you get back so quick?" Lorna asked.

"It was an idea that Bruce had. Instead of trying to travel through time and space at the same time he called in one of the Avengers who can actually travel to various timelines. He took us back to this time and then I simply moved us to the right dimension." Jean explained.

"Wow, maybe we should ask Bruce to send some of the time travel tech to us." Dani grinned.

"I am not fighting a T-Rex for you Dani." Clark frowned.

Dani just pouted; ever since she saw that broken tooth on the mantelpiece she had bugged Harry and Clark about it. She had a list of people and creatures that she wanted Clark to fight for her… just for fun.

"How long were you gone?" Scott asked.

"Six months." Jean answered. "Rachel still isn't back." She informed them seriously.

"What do you think the Council will do?" Laura asked.

"The same thing that Harry did to Loki and this world's Thor. Revert her to a baby and try again." Phoebe said with a serious expression.

"A Phoenix with no sense of responsibility is far too dangerous." Jean nodded. "I don't like it but we all saw what happened when I couldn't control myself."

"But you learnt to do so!" Scott argued.

"Sweetheart, I wanted to learn. I wanted to return to you. Rachel has avoided all sorts of ties to things that would give her that. She doesn't really accept us as her parents which is why she doesn't listen to us about Emma."

"What are the other options?" Laura asked.

"The Phoenix council would unite and destroy her or ask Harry to do it." Phoebe answered.

"Harry wouldn't do that though, he would take the first option." Jean added.

"Where is Harry?" Clark asked.

"Gotham." Scott told him. "Alfred called Harry, there is a nasty situation with a man, the type of which, Bruce has never had to deal with."

"Oh, would one of you mind taking me to him? I'm still off sick from school so I might as well help out."

"That must have been some vacation." Laura smirked.

Clark grinned happily. "I got the crap kicked out of me."

* * *

Laura dropped Superman off in costume next to Harry and disappeared so quickly that it appeared Superman had teleported himself.

Unfortunately Superman found himself in the basement of a police precinct surrounded by very edgy cops.

"EASY! Easy!" The newly promoted Commissioner Gordon said loudly as his men and women went for their side arms.

"Quite the entrance Superman." Came the smirking reply of Harry.

"Sorry about that. I didn't know you were with company and my ride didn't check." Superman muttered.

"Good to see you again, Superman." Gordon offered his hand, which Superman shook.

"Good to see you too, a shame that it has to be for something like this." Superman said sadly as he watched the Batman lay into the man calling himself the Joker. "Is that really the most effective method?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. Months ago Superman would ask if it necessary, now he asked a different type of question. His apprentice was growing.

"It's not. But this man _wants_ this to happen. He wants to engage the Bat. He enjoys it." Harry explained.

"Who is Harvey Dent?" Superman asked as he heard Batman demand information.

"Local District Attorney. He and Miss Dawes have been kidnapped."

"Couldn't you get Miss Dawes now?"

"I could, but we need to do it simultaneously otherwise we risk losing Dent."

The door suddenly crashed open and Batman stormed out.

"Who are you going after?" Gordon asked as he grabbed his coat.

"Rachel!"

The room was a rush of activity as Gordon organised his people.

"Is the Joker telling the truth?" Superman asked quietly.

"Yes and no. He told us the locations but not the truth about who was at which one."

"So Batman is actually going after-"

"Harvey Dent." Harry nodded. "Go with Batman, assist him as needed. I'll wait for word so I can save Rachel." He instructed as he teleported out.

* * *

"Hello Rachel."

"Doctor Potter!"

"I'm here as Lord Death for now." Harry corrected.

"You have to save Harvey! The City needs him." She begged.

"I've never met him. Bruce and Clark are on their way now. They will save Harvey and I will save you."

"What if they are too late?"

"I'm Death. He doesn't go anywhere I don't say he does." Harry smirked.

"Why hasn't Harvey said anything? Harvey!?" She called loudly.

"Oh, sorry, I put up a few privacy charms." Harry said as he dispelled them.

"Harvey?"

"Rachel?"

"Help is coming Harvey. I'm safe now. They tell me the Batman is coming for you with Superman." She said reassuringly.

"No! Tell them to save you! Please!" Harvey begged.

"Relax Mr. Dent. Rachel Dawes is quite safe and in no dang-"

There was a huge wave of heat and pressure as the warehouse went up. Rachel screamed in agony for a second before Harry had her protected and healed.

Rachel was still panicking though so he took her back to Alfred.

"Doctor Potter. Where is Mr. Dent?" Alfred asked worriedly as Harry transfigured the couch into a bed.

"Bruce and Clark are on it. Unfortunately I have never met the man so I can't grab him like I did for Rachel."

"What happened?"

"I made a mistake. There was a phone line between Rachel and Harvey so they could torture themselves with lies and kind words in their final moments. I informed Harvey that Rachel was safe but didn't take into account that someone else might be listening. They blew the warehouse when they heard I was there."

"Miss Dawes was in the explosion."

Harry nodded gravely. "It was only a second but it was still agony for her. I have removed that particular memory but she could use some sleep so if you wouldn't mind…?"

"Of course Doctor. I will be right here with her."

"If you feel the need then take her straight to the castle. Take no chances."

"I understand."

* * *

Harry teleported straight back to the Precinct as he wanted to talk to the Joker before he killed him. What he found was pure chaos. The place was the scene of a bomb explosion. He quickly released his magic healing everything and fixing the destruction.

"What the hell happened here?" Harry demanded.

"It's my fault." An older cop named Stephens admitted as he got off the floor. "I let the bastard get to me and he got the upper hand. He made a phone call and a bomb went off."

"Why would you let him make a phone call?" Harry asked in disbelief. "This guy has been setting bombs off all over the place. He's a mastermind, he thinks in spirals not straight lines. Never assume you know what he's going to do… in fact, the next time you get him, if you refuse to kill him then strip him completely naked and keep two cops on him at all times but never within reach."

"That's against the law." A female cop named Ramirez argued.

"Extreme circumstances. You know what he is capable of and you should not give him any opportunities."

"I just got word from Gordon, they got Dent but he was severely injured." Another cop called out.

"I'm going to meet up with Gordon. In the meantime I suggest you strip search those prisoners." Harry said as he vanished.

"Ramirez… was I just dead?" Stephens asked nervously.

* * *

"What happened? Where's Dent?" Harry asked as he appeared next to Gordon. Superman was still there but Batman was gone.

"Dent tried to free himself but got his face covered in gasoline." Superman explained. "We got him out before the bomb went off but the flaming debris caught him and… it was bad Harry. Really bad."

"Well take me to him. I can fix it."

"Paramedics wouldn't wait! They wanted to get him to the hospital quickly."

"Gordon, which hospital?"

"I don't know, but I can find out." He said as he turned away with his phone.

"Did you get Rachel?" Superman asked.

"She's fine. I made a mistake but she's with Alfred for now."

"A mistake?"

"I made a bad assumption. I'll explain later. Where's Batman?"

"I think this hit him hard. He doesn't know Rachel is alive and he thinks he failed Dent. I tried to explain but… I think you need to talk to him."

"Alright, you stick with Gordon, keep him safe and I'll go talk to Bruce. With any luck he's back home and knows about Rachel."

"Harry, we really need a better method of communication, I had no way to call you about Dent."

"We'll break out the gear we used on the Avengers. Thor and Ares both served and we used electronics with them."

"In the meantime, use your phone. It's not as effective as an always open line but it will do."

* * *

"Bruce, you look like hell." Harry chastised as he appeared in the billionaires pent house suite.

Bruce was seated in a chair, still in his armour but with his cowl off.

"I failed. I couldn't save Rachel and I barely saved Harvey." Bruce said morosely, barely acknowledging Harry's presence otherwise.

"Well I saved Rachel. She'll be fine. As soon as someone tells me where Harvey Dent is I can fix him too."

Bruce's head snapped to Harry. "Rachel's alive?"

"She's sleeping. Or should be. Alfred must have taken her to the castle. Do you know where Dent is?"

"No. But he was in bad shape. Half his face was practically burnt off. Clark took most of the blast but we didn't account for the burning debris, he was drenched in gasoline, he got hit by a single spark."

"Clark filled me in on the events. You probably don't know that the Joker blew up the Precinct and escaped with your witness."

"We'd better get started." Bruce said wearily as he levered himself out of his chair.

Harry put a hand on Bruce's shoulder revitalising him.

"Am I going to crash later?" Bruce asked worriedly.

"No, you'll be fine."

"We need to find the Joker. The sooner we find him the sooner we can put the city at ease."

"Unfortunately I didn't get close enough to him to be able to teleport straight to him. We have to do this the hard way."

"I might have a- hold on." Bruce reached for the TV remote and turned the volume up for the news piece currently being broadcast.

"_We have Coleman Reese on next with some amazing news. He claims he knows who the Batman is and that he plans to unveil him live in just a few minutes."_ The presenter announced.

"How credible is this man?" Harry asked.

"He figured it all out and he likely has the necessary proof. He approached Lucius in an attempt to blackmail me."

"I think it's time I added some protection to your identity." Harry frowned.

* * *

"You're a goddamned idiot, Reese." Harry snarled as he appeared in the SUV with Reese, Gordon and one other officer. The Joker had threatened to blow up hospitals unless Reese was killed to prevent him revealing Batman's identity. Now they had to deal with everyone with a loved on in a hospital.

"Oh god! Who are you?" Reese cried out in fright.

"I'm the one you should be really afraid of." Harry told him. "What's the word? I know you have the hospitals evacuating, where's Superman?"

"I asked him to search the hospitals for the bombs. If he can save the hospitals we can get the patients back into care." Gordon explained.

"Good. I'd hate to have to try and do a mass heal. The hysteria would be worse than anything the Joker can pull."

"I need to get Reese to safety, I still haven't gotten word on Dent. I know he's at Gotham General though."

"He'll have to wait. For now I am going to put you and this idiot at the Precinct."

* * *

Superman had already cleared a few small hospitals. It didn't take long to look at the building with X-Ray vision and then take out the explosives. Fortunately his training with Laura had included bomb disposal.

He finally reached Gotham General Hospital and he realised he should have come here first. The place was huge. A quick check of the building showed massive amounts of explosives that lined the hallways. The previous buildings had one centralized set of explosives in the basement. This place was rigged to reduce the place to dust.

He also saw two bodies slowly dying. Cops. Walking away down the hall was the Joker who was pressing something in his hand.

Superman swooped in as fast as he could and grabbed both cops as explosions began to rock the building. He quickly made his way back out to the waiting buses that were evacuating patients.

He deposited the bodies with the doctors and began searching for the Joker.

Unfortunately in the chaos he had slipped away. Superman decided to continue on to the next hospital just in case the Joker decided to blow more stuff up.

* * *

The Joker had made another threat. But he hadn't specified a specific target. Gotham was in a panic as they tried to board the ferries to cross the river as the Joker had warned against the bridges and tunnels.

"The bridges are clear. Not a single explosive on them, same with the tunnels." Superman reported to Gordon back at the precinct.

"Good, I'll have my men start redirecting traffic."

"You might want to have them check every car they let in. That might be how they intend to blow the place." Superman advised.

"God that's going to take ages." He sighed. "Any word on Death and Batman?"

"No, but if they need me they'll call. There is very little that I can do that Death can't do better."

"Still feels wrong calling him that."

* * *

"This is wrong." Lucius said with a mix of wonder and disgust as he looked up at the arrays of monitors in the large warehouse.

"I need you to use this." Batman instructed. "If the Joker is within range of any phone, this will pick it up."

"I'll do this. But you can consider my resignation on your desk. As long as this machine is here I can't work for Wayne Enterprises."

"I'll take it." Harry spoke up.

"No." Batman said firmly. "Enter your name when you're done." He told Lucius as he headed out.

"Why would you want this? It's a complete invasion of privacy." Lucius asked as he and Harry were left alone.

"It's all about who you have moderating it. The rules you have in place. This device never has to be used to eavesdrop on regular citizens, but the potential for it to be used to track down someone like the Joker, or find kidnapped children. I'd sell my privacy for that."

"It's wrong. People shouldn't have to worry about who is listening in to their conversations."

"People who are committing no crime don't have to worry about that, we aren't interested in their conversations. But if they are committing a crime, do they really deserve the privacy? We are eventually going to stick them in a prison where privacy is moot."

"It's still wrong." Lucius asserted.

* * *

Superman received instructions from Harry to stick with Gordon. Harry and Batman soon arrived on the roof opposite a tall construction site where Lucius had discovered the Joker was holding hostages. Gordon was already set up to breach the building with snipers on backup.

"We have a problem." Gordon said as Batman and Harry approached him and Superman.

"What now?" Harry sighed.

"Two ferries, one carrying civilians and one carrying prisoners have stopped in the middle of the river as they were taking passengers out of Gotham. The Joker rigged them both with explosives and has given the passengers of each ship the detonator to the _other_ ship. They have fifteen minutes for one of them to blow the other ship or the Joker blows them both."

"Superman, can you get in and out without being seen?" Harry asked.

"I could go under water, but I don't know how to get into the ships that way. I'm fast, but still a visible blur. If they see me there won't be anything I can do." Superman admitted.

"I'll handle the ships then. You help Batman." Harry said as he teleported to the river.

"I have men targeting the hostage takers and a SWAT team heading up the elevator." Gordon announced.

"I want to go in first. If you move now you will spook the Joker and he will destroy the ferries." Batman warned.

"We don't have time to wait."

"Sure you do." Superman shrugged. "Harry can handle the ferries and I can see the Joker from here. Have your men switch targets from the hostage takers to the hostages themselves though."

"What?"

"The ones with guns are the hostages and have the guns duct-taped to their hands. The ones on their knees have concealed weapons."

"How can you tell?"

"X-Ray vision." Superman smirked as he gave a pointed look at Gordon's waist. "Bugs Bunny?"

Gordon blanched but quickly gave the order for his snipers to switch targets and the SWAT team to hold its position.

"What's the plan then? We need to stop the Joker from detonating the-"

There was a gust of wind as Superman vanished.

"What is he-"

There was another gust and Superman was standing there with a naked Joker.

"Hey! No fair!" The Joker whined. "It's cold out here."

"Why is he naked?" Gordon asked.

"Because we don't know what tricks he has in his clothes. Although he did have this," he handed over a detonator, "and an assorted collection of blades and grenades."

"Well let's at least give him a blanket." Gordon said unhappy at the thought of helping the psychotic bastard.

"One moment." Superman placed his hammer on the Joker's chest and let out a burst of lightning that sent him flying back into the wall.

"What was that for?" Gordon demanded.

"We do not want him awake. The next time he regains consciousness we need him in a plastic box with air holes." Clark explained.

"I'd avoid letting him have his one phone call as well." Batman mused.

"I'll start at the top, you start at the bottom?" Superman asked Batman as he indicated the building.

Batman didn't respond other than to leap off the side of the building.

Superman followed suit, only he flew up instead of gliding down.

"I think I prefer it when all I had to deal with was corrupt cops and mob bosses." Gordon sighed.

"You and me both, Jim." Stephens muttered.

* * *

Harry had finished dealing with the bombs on the boats. He would have to let Gordon know so he could have them tugged to the docks.

He teleported straight to the man in question only to find him begging a gravely disfigured Harvey Dent not to kill his son.

"Dent, what are you doing?" Harry demanded.

***BANG***

Harry looked down at the hole in his shirt as the Gordon women screamed.

"Was that really necessary?" Harry asked in annoyance.

***BANG***

***BANG***

"You can keep shooting but it won't have any effect." Harry sighed. "Although it will reduce the number of bullets in your gun." He smirked.

Dent hastily put the gun back to the boy's head.

"Who are you?" Dent asked, fear creeping up on him.

"Death. Now what do you think you are doing with that boy? Let him go back to his mother and put the gun down so I can heal your face." Harry ordered.

"No… Gordon made me lose Rachel and he is going to feel what it is like to lose his own family." Dent snarled.

Harry waved a hand and Gordon's wife and children vanished.

Dent was startled for a moment as the boy disappeared from his grasp before screamed in rage and began firing at Gordon. The bullets never made it to him as Superman swooped in and caught them. Seconds later he was holding Dent firmly.

Harry stepped forward and stunned him.

"What happened? I thought Dent was supposed to be the good guy." Superman asked as he picked Dent up in his arms.

"The fact that he thought Rachel was dead combined with the pain and despair of his face drove him to madness." Harry said sadly.

"The Joker had a hand in it." Gordon added. "At least I assume he did. Harvey was being treated at Gotham General and you said you saw the Joker there. He must have been the one who released Harvey as the reports said he needed to be restrained."

"What do we do with Harvey?" Superman asked.

Harry placed a hand on Harvey's disfigured face and began healing the damage, causing new flesh and skin to grow. "The body is easy. I don't want to burden him with the memory of the pain he was in. I want one of the telepaths to check his mind and see how he got this way, but then I will erase everything up to the point where he was kidnapped."

"It's not that simple." Gordon spoke up. "Harvey admitted to killing several people after he escaped the hospital. It's going to destroy what is left of the cities hope."

"No. It won't." Came Batman's gravelly voice. "The city needs Dent and men like him. I can take the fall for him."

"Why?" Superman asked.

"Because I can take it. Gordon can chase me and make the city hate me whilst Dent vilifies me and cleans up the city. If word got out that Dent went bad… Gordon's right. It would destroy Gotham."

"Noble… but you underestimate the affect you have had on the city." Harry argued.

"I agree." Superman said. "Think of all the criminals you captured and took off the street. _You_ were the one who helped capture the Joker initially. It was Gotham PD who let him escape. No offence." He added to Gordon.

"No, we royally screwed the pooch on that one. If Stephens wasn't the only good cop on the taskforce I'd have him up on charges." Gordon admitted.

"We can't lose Dent like this." Batman argued heatedly. "If he goes down for those murders."

"Give me some credit Batman." Harry rolled his eyes. "It will take some careful planning but we can get Dent out of this."

"You mean you don't actually have a plan already?" Superman asked with amusement.

"Shut up Superman."

* * *

Commissioner Jim Gordon was sitting at the table in his kitchen laughing hysterically. His wife and kids were looking at him strangely as Bruce Wayne glared at him. Clark and Harry seemed to find Jim's mirth amusing.

"This is no laughing matter Jim." Bruce snapped.

"Please! The most effective heroes on the planet are a playboy billionaire and an alien god farm boy!"

"Let him have his moment Bruce. He's earned it after the past few days." Harry smiled.

Eventually Jim calmed down, he was far more serious despite the humour. "I honestly don't know what to do with this."

"Nothing." Harry answered. "We told you because you are trustworthy. We wanted you to know just whom you were dealing with."

"It also makes it easier for you to contact us without needing a fancy flashlight." Clark added.

"People would take note if I started conversing with billionaires."

"I can explain that." Bruce assured him. "I have never forgotten the cop who took care of me the night my parents were murdered. I have good reason to contact you."

"That was a horrible night." Jim shuddered. "But what happens now? If people discover I know your identities, or my family knows…" He indicated his wife and kids.

"Don't worry, you are protected." Harry smiled at them. "No one will know and you wouldn't be able to tell anyone anyway."

* * *

Clark and Harry managed to get back to the castle in time for a drink before bed. They each other caught up on the goings on. The girls at the school had had to deal with Ian Randall, an over achieving student who killed anyone who got in the way of his academic dreams and was able to duplicate his body so he had alibis.

"He was a creepy little sod." Phoebe shuddered.

"He would have gotten away with it too if his ego wasn't so big that he was crowing to himself in his head _about_ getting away with it." Mindee scoffed.

"Creepy little sod."

Everyone looked at Celeste.

"He was! It deserves repeating!" She said defensively.

"I can't believe he thought he could get away with trying to date all four of us." Lana giggled.

"Do you think he would have tried to date Chloe as well?" Clark asked.

"If he could mooch off them academically he would have." Laura nodded with a grimace.

"He didn't?!" Jean gasped.

"Creepy little sod." Laura nodded.

"What did he do?" Clark asked.

"He tried to ask me out." Laura explained. "I offered him a week of afternoons and weekends together." She smirked.

"Detention?" Clark guessed.

"He seemed fairly eager at first, but then I reminded him that it would go in any letter the Principal writes for him. He ran pretty quick after that."

"How's Ryan settling in? I haven't seen him yet."

"He's doing good. He's happy on the farm, he attends classes with me during the day." Lorna answered. "He seems reluctant to go into town though, I think he likes the quiet on the farm. He has gotten used to Martha and Jonathan's thoughts."

"I know someone who has some quad-bikes that Pete and I used to borrow. I'll see if he wants to go for a ride in the woods this weekend, just the two of us."

Lana sighed and stood up. "I have classes first thing and I have to put the Torch to print by myself tomorrow with Chloe gone. I'll see you all in the morning."

"Night Lana." The triplets chorused along with a variety of farewells from the rest.

Lana paused at the door.

"I'll watch through your eyes and guide you on the way." Celeste smirked.

"Thank you." Lana laughed.

"Guide her where?" Clark asked.

"Lana is living in the castle and she gets lost sometimes, she still isn't used to the moving staircases." Laura explained.

"Why is she living here?"

"Nell and her boyfriend are moving to Metropolis, she doesn't want to be uprooted, instead of trying for emancipation we arranged with Nell to sign custody of her over to Scott and Emma. They are all going to move into her house." Amara informed him.

"Actually, Lana has suggested that we all stay in the castle and rent or sell the house." Jean said. "I think she likes the idea of having more space than trying to live with six people in the one home."

"Plus it makes it easier for us to spend time with Harry." Mindee smiled happily.

"Always a plus." Harry winked at her.

"Any word on Chloe?" Clark asked Amara, or Queen Amara as she now was.

"Diana has taken personal responsibility for Chloe. I made it clear to the Amazons and her that though I may reign as Queen; Diana is still princess and heir to the throne. Should I be unavailable she will assume my duties. Because of this she has decided to get experience by helping a temporary subject integrate into their world."

Clark noticed that Dani seemed to be hiding a smirk behind her mug. He looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"Something to add, Miss Moonstar?"

"Me? No. Nothing." She said hastily.

"Daaani?" Lorna drawled slowly.

"I may have suggested the idea to her. It will help her when she comes to stay here."

"Why do you look so guilty?" Clark asked.

"She did it so Amara could spend more time here." Phoebe smirked.

"You! You sneaky Pete!" Dani lunged at Celeste who was the nearest of the triplets… it didn't really matter which one you tickled… they all felt it in the end.

"I think I'll head home before Dani moves on from tickling." Clark sighed. He'd seen it happen before. Of all of Harry's bond mates, Dani was the most physical; she loved all her mates and loved showing it.

"Actually, you have a room here. We need to expand your home as Ryan is in your room. I'll show you the way." Scott said. He too preferred to be out of the room before he witnessed Dani defile his adopted daughters.


	24. Chapter 24

The rest of the week was fairly chaotic in Clark's mind. He put extra effort into helping Lana with the Torch as both Pete and Chloe were now gone and no one knew for certain when Chloe would be back. The Cuckoos helped as well but Chloe's absence was noticeable as Lana relied on her experience in running the Torch. Lana was clearly feeling the strain.

Ryan was very happy at the farm, but disappointed that Clark now stayed at the castle. Clark himself was surprised that his parents had been the ones to suggest it. He had never been happier though after he first experienced working Hippolyta.

"You dare stare at my breasts?!" Came the sneering accusation.

"What?" Clark asked as he turned around, still holding a bale of hay.

"You were using your- your powers to look through my clothes! I know it!" She accused.

"No I was not!" Clark said defensively as he looked around frantically for an adult. Any adult would do… he'd settle for Dani at this point. He was also glad that Ryan wasn't there. Ryan brought up a worry for him.

"You don't think those things around Ryan do you?" He asked as he took a step forward and put the bale down.

"The boy? I know he looks as well… like all males, he will grow to defile women everywhere."

"You better keep your thoughts in check Hippolyta." Clark warned. "Ryan hears everyone's thoughts and he can't help it."

"I knew he was evil."

"Watch your mouth Hippolyta or I'll ask Harry to turn you into your worst nightmare." Clark hissed angrily. He was very protective of Ryan.

"You know nothing of fear, child. I have seen fear and it no longer troubles me."

"Keep it up Hippolyta and I'll make you prove it."

"What is her fear Clark?" Jonathan asked curiously as he walked in with three cups of coffee. Hippolyta was his responsibility. She was an arrogant bitch but she wasn't an immediate danger to the farm or his family. Just annoying.

"She fears men. That's why she hates them. If she keeps her attitude up I'll ask Harry to turn her _into_ a man." Clark smirked.

Jonathan was mildly surprised to see Hippolyta pale and begin to shake.

"Besides, even if I'm wrong, Emma or Jean can read her mind to find out something even worse." Clark said seriously as he turned and walked out.

Jonathan watched his son go. He was proud his son was growing up, proud of the man he was becoming. But at the same time he was sad to see his little boy mature and lose his innocence.

"I really don't understand you Hippolyta." Jonathan sighed.

Hippolyta quickly regained her composure and arrogance now that Clark was gone. "You are a man." She spat. "It is obvious you don't have the intelligence to comprehend such things."

Jonathan ignored her. He was getting used to her vitriol. "You believe and respect the goddesses, yes?"

"Of course! The goddess Aphrodite herself created us."

"Then why do you not trust them? Why are you so rude to them? Aphrodite is more than your goddess. She is your _mother_. How would you feel if Diana treated you like you treat Aphrodite?"

Jonathan put a mug down for Hippolyta before taking the remaining two mugs and searching for Clark and leaving a livid and confused former queen standing over a pile of manure.

"If you fail to change your ways, it is not a man you will become. But a baby boy."

Hippolyta spun around to see Aphrodite herself standing there. Despite her anger she fell to her knees.

"I will ask Lord Death to reduce your soul to a spark and turn you into a boy so that you might be raised properly."

"Why have you forsaken me?" Hippolyta demanded with as angry and desperate tears streaked down her face.

Aphrodite sighed sadly, as her own tears fell. "Even now, you accuse _me_ of wrong. Not once have you questioned your own actions. You continuously think yourself better and wiser than those older and more experienced. Those that have proven themselves."

Hippolyta looked up angrily only to find Aphrodite gone.

* * *

Friday had Amara, Martha and Dani standing in front of a chain link fence in disgust. They were at the known site of the Kawatche Caves not a mile or so from the castle. The sign on the gate said LuthorCorp and declared a new high-rise plaza was going to be built.

"Why would he do this? Can he do this?" Martha asked worriedly.

"If he bought the land then: yes, he can. But there should have been a survey first to determine its effects on the culture and environment. He should know the Kawatche Caves are near here and might be at risk." Amara confirmed.

"And he's probably doing it out of spite. This is the closest land to the castle and he wants to rub it in our face after we broke his little bank." Dani sneered.

"So what do we do?"

"For starters you and I are headed to City Hall to find the survey and plans. Then we will file a motion to stop the work as it will affect our own home." Amara told her.

* * *

"Clark, are you still planning on taking Ryan out today?" Jonathan asked his son the following morning.

"Yeah, I hired the bikes and safety gear. I was going to pack a lunch."

"Be aware that there was an explosion at the new LuthorCorp site last night. The foreman was killed and they suspect foul play."

"They always suspect the chickens first." Dani muttered.

"Dani!" Jonathan admonished. "A man died."

There was a snort of laughter as Clark cracked. "Sorry Dad, but that was funny."

Dani just grinned at him.

* * *

Clark led Ryan on a merry chase through the woodland trails. Ryan was clearly enjoying himself and Clark was glad he had suggested this. They enjoyed a nice picnic where they easily chatted.

"Ryan, I have a question. Can you read the minds of animals?" Clark asked as he noticed a squirrel nearby.

"I can get a feel of what they are feeling." Ryan frowned as he tried to explain. "They don't think in words like we do."

"So you know when the horses and cattle are happy, sad or in pain?"

"Yes, but all your horses and cattle are fine." Ryan assured him.

"Glad to hear it. Can you tell what that little guy is thinking?" He indicated the squirrel.

"I think he wants our food." Ryan said as he scrunched his brow in concentration.

* * *

After lunch they continued their trip on the quads. This time Clark let Ryan take the lead. Ryan never realised Clark had disappeared behind him.

Clark, meanwhile, had fallen down a hole into caves beneath. It was not a pleasant trip down as he had tumbled and the bike had landed on his chest.

"Oh my god! Are you ok? Don't move!"

Clark turned to the female voice that was panicking over him.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Clark assured her as he pushed the bike off himself and sat up.

"You shouldn't move! That was nearly a hundred foot drop!"

Clark managed to clear the dust from his eyes and saw the girl was about his age, ebony hair and tanned skin. She reminded him of Dani.

"Hi. I'm Clark." He said.

"Kyla. I should really call an ambulance. You could have a concussion."

"Clark?! Clark?! Are you ok? Can you hear me?"

Clark looked up at the hole he had fallen through and saw Ryan looking through worriedly.

"I'm fine Ryan. Back up from the hole a bit in case it's still unstable and call Dani." He instructed. Dani had given Ryan a phone for emergencies. This would probably count.

"Where are we?" Clark asked Kyla.

"The sacred Kawatche Caves. My grandfather and I are studying the cave paintings and history." She smiled as she indicated the illustrated walls.

Clark froze as a cold chill went down his back. There was Kryptonian writing on the walls.

"Dani wants to know if you're hurt." Ryan called back down.

"Just my ego!"

"I know what that is, Clark!"

"I'm not sure you do! Now back away from the hole and wait for Dani, there is someone else down here with me." Clark instructed. He hoped Ryan got the warning.

"Your brother?" Kyla asked as they heard Ryan talking into the phone and moving away.

"No, but he lives with us. It's a sort of a foster arrangement for now. Has anyone told you you look like-"

"If you say Pocahontas… so help me god I will hit you!"

"Actually I was going to say Lara Croft."

Kyla's eyes snapped down to her attire. Sure enough she was wearing shorts a tight t-shirt, boots and a backpack.

"Oh… well it wasn't intentional."

"So I take it you're a member of the Kawatche tribe?" Clark asked with an amused look.

"That obvious, huh?"

"The defensiveness gave it away. I'm used to it. The person Ryan is calling is Cheyenne, she holds the rights to protect these caves and lands."

"If that's the case why are they letting LuthorCorp build here?" Kyla demanded.

"Nobody lets Lionel Luthor do anything." Clark said sourly. "He just does. We got a restraining order yesterday to cease work whilst the permits and surveys are contested."

"Oh my god! Naman!" Kyla gasped as the wall paintings caught her eye.

"No, my name is Clark… did I hit you on the way down?" Clark asked worriedly.

"No, these paintings. My grandfather has been looking for these for years. They tell the story of Naman who will arrive in a rain of fire, have the strength of ten men and start fires with his eyes."

Clark looked at the paintings. There was an ice-cold fist playing with his insides.

"Only ten, huh?" He asked weakly.

"Clark, you ok down there?" Came Scott's voice.

Clark moved back under the hole where he could see Dani, Scott, Amara and Laura looking down.

"I'm fine, is Ryan ok?"

"He's here." Dani assured him. "We've got climbing gear, we're coming down."

"Understood." Clark moved Kyla back a bit so loose dirt and rocks wouldn't hit them.

"Do they know what they're doing?" Kyla asked with concern. "That is not a drop for amateurs."

Clark smiled as he saw Dani swing down.

"They are _very_ experienced." He assured her.

"Wow, that's some drop Clark. How high did you bounce?" Dani laughed as she hit the floor of the cave.

"Not very, my quad bike landed on top of me." Clark said as he rubbed his chest.

"How are you not dead?" Kyla asked.

"I get hit by an entire team of muscled and armoured guys a few times a week. That drop isn't much of a stretch." Clark shrugged.

"What?"

"I'm the high school quarterback."

"Ah."

"Dani, meet Kyla, Kawatche tribe. Kyla, meet Dani, Cheyenne tribe."

With that introduction Clark moved forward to help Laura disengage.

"Laura, Ryan is coming down now." Scott called down.

"Wait, it's too dangerous for a child down here." Kyla argued.

"He'll be fine." Dani assured her. "Tell me about these drawings." She said as she led Kyla away.

"You ready Clark?" Ryan called down as he hung nearly one hundred feet up on a rope.

"I'm here Ryan, just take it slowly and we'll catch you if there are any problems." Clark assured him, he could hear the nervousness in his young friend's voice.

Slowly Ryan made his way down before gently touching down where the waiting Laura and Clark unhooked him.

Laura sent a mental message to Scott that it was safe for him and Amara to teleport down now that Dani had Kyla distracted elsewhere.

"What have you stumbled onto now?" Laura asked teasingly.

"Wonderland." Ryan smiled.

"I swear there was no white rabbit." Clark said defensively.

"I recognise these symbols." Laura said as she examined the walls.

"It's Kryptonian." Clark confirmed.

"Can you read it?" Scott asked.

"I can. It talks about a conflict between two beings. It's not real Kryptonian though; the grammar is really bad."

"I think this is more important." Laura called the two men over.

There in the wall was a very familiar octagonal recess.

"Are we going to have to dismantle _another_ version of Jor-El?" Clark asked with a sigh.

"Only one way to find out." Laura said with a sympathetic look.

"Amara! Sweetie! Don't you think Clark is sooo hot!" Dani beamed as she came skipping in.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Kyla hissed at Clark.

"What do you mean? She's always excitable like this."

"She just tried to stick her tongue down my throat!"

"That's… not like her." Clark admitted. "Dani, why did you kiss Kyla?" He asked carefully.

"Cause she's fucking hot!"

"Dani!" Amara gasped. None of the group really swore; Dani was acting very out of character.

"What? She is! We should all strip down naked and get it on right here." Kyla gaped at the older woman as she literally began to strip.

"Dani, we need to get you to the hospital." Scott said seriously.

"Wanna play Doctor, huh?" She said suggestively as she groped him.

Scott was used to Dani's playful manner but not in front of strangers and children.

"What happened whilst you were alone with Dani?" Laura asked Kyla.

"Nothing, we were talking about the caves and what some of the drawings looked like. That's it."

"She didn't touch anything or say anything unusual?"

"She did touch a wall and she acted like she had cut herself."

"With her hands?"

Kyla nodded.

"Check her hands." She called back to Scott and Amara.

"Ryan, come here." Clark called to the young boy who was clearly getting more and more scared.

"She's got what looks like a puncture or needle mark on her left palm." Scott replied.

"I need you to show me exactly where she touched." Laura told Kyla. "Get her up top and back home immediately." She ordered Scott and Amara. "Clark, I might need your help so come with."

"Ryan, stay very close to me." Clark warned the boy.

Ryan just nodded.

Kyla led them away to the area she and Dani were discussing. There were crevices along the wall as well as more Kryptonian symbols and pictures.

Laura turned anxiously to Clark. "If there was another way and more time I wouldn't ask."

Clark just nodded. He took a quick look at Kyla before focusing his x-ray vision on the wall.

"There's a space behind the rock face. There are hundreds of some kinds of insect; they have pincers and a stinger. My guess is they are the culprit."

"How the-"

"Clark, take Kyla and Ryan out of here and check the walls on your way out, keep them safe and evacuate anyone you see. Claim there is a cave in or something."

"I was the only one down here." Kyla admitted. "How can you see through walls?"

"Later." Laura said firmly. "Clark, go."

"Let's move. Remember, stay close to me." He told Ryan.

As Clark led Ryan and a protesting Kyla away she immediately erected repelling wards that would keep people out.

"I've got your back." Amara said as she walked up behind her.

"How's Dani?"

"With Jean."

"Those are vicious little things."

Both women turned in relief to see their soul mate there.

"Harry, what are they?" Laura asked.

Harry shoved his hand into a crevice and pulled out one of the bugs before placing it in a specimen jar he conjured.

"Alien. Very alien." Harry remarked.

"They look like giant albino earwigs." Amara grimaced.

* * *

"Can I kill it?"

The eager and bloodthirsty request of Danielle Moonstar was quite understandable. Harry had easily cleansed her system of the strange toxin and parasite but she was pissed. The little creature Harry had captured was sitting in a glass aquarium style tank in the lab.

"Not this one." Jean told her. "I want a few more samples as well to keep in stasis."

"Don't worry Dani, there are plenty more in that cave for you to squish." Harry assured her.

"I would like to take Clark and have him attempt to destroy them with lightning." Thor spoke up.

"Are we sure that will work?" Loki asked.

"One way to find out!" Dani declared with a bloodthirsty grin. She conjured electricity in the palm of her hand, just like she would when shocking someone's heart and jammed it in the tank.

The parasite writhed around but the end result was it just got slightly more active.

"Clear!" Dani called out as she did it again.

"Again, cle-"

She was stopped by Amara's arms wrapping around her. "It's ok sweetheart. We can find another way."

"The lightning Clark and I wield contains an element of our divinity. It may be more effective." Thor suggested. "Clark."

Clark stepped forward and produced his hammer; he held it over the tank and caused a small bolt to lance out towards the parasite.

It slowed the creature down but didn't kill it.

"What about fire?" Loki asked as she conjured a ball in her hands.

"No, we can't damage the caves." Dani said softly.

"Liquid nitrogen?" Lex suggested. "It might not kill them but it should freeze them so you can fish them out easily. Harry can phase into the walls and collect them up."

"I can help with that." Emma nodded.

"Won't you be at risk of getting stung?"

"Not in this form." She smirked as she turned to diamond.

"Most expensive armour on the planet."

"Again, I've heard it before." She laughed.

"How many times were you kidnapped for the purpose of selling your body off?"

"Numerous times." She admitted. "But only after I became a witch. I took great pleasure in demonstrating my displeasure and opinion on their efforts."

Scott just glared at her.

"Scott was the highest ranking law enforcement official for most of those incidents." Lorna explained. "There was a lot of paperwork to fill out and explanations to the courts."

"For killing her captors in her escape?"

The others just laughed leaving Clark and Lex confused.

"I didn't kill them." Emma told them. "I removed their limbs or paralysed them from the neck down. If there is one thing I have learnt from Harry it is that their evil souls would travel to the other side to cause more pain and suffering. But only Harry can destroy the soul permanently, erasing their stain from existence."

* * *

The following morning Martha, Jonathan and Ryan were woken up far too early. Granted they used to get up before dawn to do their chores but magic allowed them a longer lie in.

"Can I help you?" Jonathan asked sourly.

"Is Clark here?" The girl at the door asked.

"Kyla? It's five am." Ryan whined. "Can't you come back later… like tomorrow at noon?"

Martha chuckled at Ryan's annoyance as she pulled him into a hug. "Go on back to bed, we'll let you sleep in a bit longer."

Ryan tiredly trudged up the stairs.

"Clark sleeps at the Potter Castle. You can try there but I don't recommend going for another few hours. They aren't as nice as we are when woken this early in the morning." Martha told her.

Kyla blushed. "Sorry, I just… I was a bit… sorry." She floundered. "I'll just go."

"Oh no you don't young lady." Jonathan stopped her. "You want to speak to Clark and he will be here to do his chores in a bit. I'm up now and there isn't much point going back to bed. You can wait for me to get dressed and then you can help me do my chores whilst we wait."

"But-"

"Come in, I'll brew some coffee." Martha smiled tiredly.

"But-"

"Make it black Martha." Jonathan called over his shoulder as he headed up the stairs.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't actually know what the time was." Kyla said sincerely.

"Don't worry, we're not really angry, just… annoyed." Martha assured her. "I'm sure Jonathan will get over it."

* * *

When Clark arrived at the farm with Dani, Amara and Hippolyta they were surprised to see Jonathan already hard at work, not to mention the physically exhausted and sweating Kyla.

"Dad, Kyla." Clark greeted warily.

"Son. I believe you know Miss Willowbrook." Jonathan said, not bothering to halt his work.

"Kyla, why are you here working on the farm?"

"Yes Kyla. Do tell them." Jonathan groused.

Kyla just blushed. "I woke up early and didn't realise the time. I wanted to talk about yesterday, what you did."

"You woke dad up early?!" Clark asked in horror.

Jonathan Kent was a farmer. His day usually started before the birds woke up. He took any opportunity for a lie in very seriously. Clark still remembered the time he had woken his parents up early for Christmas. Never again. Of course Clark didn't know that Jonathan was _still _in hot water with Martha because of his over-reaction, and this was nearly ten years ago.

"It was a mistake!"

"Another woman you have taken for a slave." Hippolyta sneered. "A child at that."

Kyla gasped as Clark glared at the former Queen.

Jonathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself. "I'm sorry Amara, and I apologise to Aphrodite, but this needs to change." He said seriously.

"Clark, why don't you take Kyla somewhere else?" Dani suggested.

"Really? Because she wants to discuss what I did last night in the caves. That was Laura's idea. Unless you want to mess with her memory she might as well see this. Besides, I want to be present for what happens to Hippolyta."

"Your son is an animal just like all men."

There was a loud meaty smack as Dani's fist ploughed into Hippolyta's face sending the woman to the ground.

"Aphrodite, if you can hear me, you should really be here for this!" Dani called out loudly.

"I am here, Dani." Came the beautiful voice.

Kyla was startled when the stunning woman just materialised in front of them. "What the hell!"

"Harry hasn't seen you yet." Aphrodite said as she smiled at the young woman. "This marks the beginning for his Apprentice. But you must confess your crime, it was an accident but it is unfair to the man if justice isn't served."

Kyla paled.

"Kyla, meet Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty." Amara said with a small bow to the goddess.

Kyla was fairly shocked, gobsmacked, to be honest. She had suspected there was more to Clark last night, she had come to confront him this morning, and she never expected to run into goddesses and possible Greek tragedies.

Aphrodite turned to Hippolyta who stood there stubbornly, showing the goddess no respect. "This stage of your punishment requires no aid from Lord Death." She said calmly. "Should your attitude not change I will call upon him for a more drastic and permanent measure."

She stepped forward and waved a hand at Hippolyta who doubled over in pain. Dani and Amara took a step back and they watched as the former Queen of the Amazons morphed into a man.

The process took less than thirty seconds but the cries of pain made it seem longer.

When Hippolyta stood she was the same height and slender build. But it was clear she was now a man. A man with short cropped blond hair.

"What have you done to me?" She demanded. She grabbed her throat as the voice was now deeper.

"This is your punishment. Until you learn to change your ways you will live as a man. If you refuse to change, a more permanent measure will be taken and you will be destroyed and Lord Kal-El's plan will be put into action."

Clark was a little confused at being called Kal-El but then he remembered she was being formal and that this was to allow him to live the private life of Clark Kent.

Amara waved her hand and Hippolyta vanished.

"Where did she- he… err _it_ go?" Kyla demanded.

"To a special holding cell where she will be perfectly safe and unable to harm herself."

"Is she still a she?" Clark asked curiously.

"Her mind and soul are unchanged." Aphrodite assured him. "Her identity is still female. I will take my leave now." She stepped up to Jonathan and kissed him on both cheeks. "We thank you for all you have done."

She vanished on a soft breeze.

Kyla stared at the spot for a few moments before she realised everyone was looking at her. The grin on Dani's face worried her, especially after yesterday.

"So you want to know more about Clarkie, huh?" Dani asked. "Still sure about that? There's a lot to tell about Naman."

"Hey, we never established that was me." Clark objected.

"Man arriving in a rain of fire, strength of ten men and fire from his eyes?" Amara asked. "How is that _not_ you?" She asked with an amused look.

"First of all, I was a boy when I arrived here. Second, I am much stronger than ten men. Third, can you really see Harry, Ryan or Lex turning on me?"

"The first two are mere semantics. As for the third, never discount things like possession." She warned.

"You really are Naman?"

It was more of a statement than a question. But it was said with such awe that it got their attention.

Clark just sighed. "Probably."

"You have to meet my Grandfather!" Kyla said suddenly.

"Whoa! My powers and abilities are a secret. If you can't keep them-"

"Don't worry Clark, we'll vet her grandfather." Dani assured him.

* * *

Joseph Willowbrook turned out to be a stern man but fairly reasonable. It had taken some demonstrations to prove Clark was Naman and that the others weren't people to be messed with.

He turned out to be fairly stubborn.

"The prophecy is iron-clad." He declared with authority. "One who is like Naman's brother will be Sageeth and will turn on him."

"I've been dealing with prophecies since long before you were born. My father broke several." Harry told him as they sat at the dinner table in the castle. Lex was present with the Kents, Kyla, Lana, Thor, Sif and Loki and Ryan. "Prophecies can always be broken. Prophecies have no true power over free will."

"You broke your world's prophecies. As you have said, this is not your world."

"I have broken prophecies in _many_ worlds. This world is no different. We Aspects still hold the highest authority."

"We shall see." It was clear that Joseph didn't believe it though.

"Clark, if I ever go bad, just ask Harry to deal with me." Lex said with a smirk. He was entirely serious though.

"You really think I might be evil?" Ryan asked worriedly.

"Ryan, I've been a bad guy before." Lorna told him kindly. "Sometimes things can happen that make you do crazy things. The important thing is to make sure you have plenty of family and friends that can pull you back."

"You were a villain?" Ryan asked with wide eyes.

"I was. My father was a super-villain at one point."

"Ah Eric. I so enjoyed his initial attempts at intimidation." Harry smiled in fond reminiscence.

"I'm surprised you didn't just kill him." Laura said.

"He was interesting. He was the sort of person that has the ability to change if shown a different way. He didn't choose to do violence because he enjoyed it; he chose it because he thought it was the most effective way. We just needed to deal with his hatred."

"But you still killed him in the end."

"Not everyone that has the potential to change will _make_ the change."

"So you admit you can be wrong." Joseph said pointedly.

"I'm about 20 million years old. I've been wrong a lot." Harry told him seriously.

"He's been right far more often though." Jean said dismissively.

"What sort of things have you been wrong about?" Clark asked curiously.

"Usually the small things. Everyday things mainly, occasionally bigger things like giving the wrong person a chance. I really can't afford to make mistakes when it comes to things involving The Aspects."

"But you haven't?" Lex asked hopefully.

"Not yet." Harry said as he knocked on the wooden table with his knuckles.

"Luck isn't an Aspect, is it?" Jonathan asked worriedly.

"Fortunately not." Thor said with a grin. "Neither is fate nor destiny."

"What makes a prophecy, how do they come about?" Martha asked.

Loki took up the explanation. "Simply put, a mortal is blessed, or cursed, depending on your point of view, with the ability to see glimpses of _a_ future. The key is to figure out how the future they observed will come to pass and if you want it too."

"The future is set in stone. It is only the path we take that is open for choice." Joseph argued.

"There is only one thing in life that is certain, Joseph." Harry said sternly. "And that would be me."

"We will see."

"Not with that attitude you won't." Loki muttered under her breath.

"I will agree not to reveal your secrets to anyone. But Naman must speak to the tribe."

"No." Harry said simply.

"Then I will tell the world-"

Lorna's hand snapped out and Joseph Willowbrook collapsed into his plate.

"Grandfather!" Kyla cried.

"Relax, he's just unconscious." Dani assured her.

"Why did you do that?" She demanded.

"He needs to learn a lesson." Lorna scowled. "You don't make demands of gods and aspects. You don't expect them to do as you say. You_ definitely_ don't threaten them or their family."

"What are you going to do with us?" She asked fearfully.

"Relax Kyla." Sif said soothingly. "You and your grandfather will come to no harm. Father will simply block his memories of what he has learnt. In a week or so he will remove the block. It will be a lesson that he is powerless against us and that if he continues his foolishness he will be denied the knowledge he has searched for all his life."

* * *

"Lorna, hi. Is everything ok with Chloe?" Gabriel Sullivan asked as he invited Lorna into his home.

"She's fine. The Amazons are treating her as a warrior in training. Princess Diana herself has taken responsibility for her."

"When you say Princess Diana, I assume you don't mean the late Princess of Wales." Gabe asked.

"No, she just happens to be named Diana."

"Ah, hopefully you'll forgive my mistake, after being told about magic, aliens and Death it wouldn't be much of a stretch to find out the late Princess was actually alive somewhere for some reason or other." Gabe chuckled as they moved to sit down.

"Oh I wouldn't discount the improbable for anything. After all my years with Harry I still get surprised. So does he!"

"So what brings you here then if not Chloe?"

"Well it does relate to Chloe's punishment. You recall we asked for permission to investigate your ex-wife?"

"You found something." Gabe was nervous, one day his wife had just vanished. All that she left was note apologising and saying she had to leave, no explanation as to why.

"We know why she had to leave. It had nothing to do with you but it isn't pleasant." Lorna said seriously.

Gabe nodded. "I understand, what did you find?"

"She checked herself into a mental asylum. She claimed she could control her daughter with her mind and that she was a danger to her."

Gabe had spent a few days talking with various residents at the castle, from Earl Jenkins to Cassandra, Harry and Thor. He knew that it was best not to take things at face value.

"Does she deserve to be there?"

"'Deserve' may not be the right term." Lorna prevaricated. "We don't know if she can actually do as she claims but she certainly didn't do it with malice. She claims that she ordered Chloe to scrub her hands until the ink that was on them was gone. Chloe scrubbed herself bloody."

"Dear God. I remember that day. Chloe didn't understand why she did it and Moira was distraught. Things only got worse for us after that." Gabe breathed.

"One way or another we can help Moira, the question is do you want her back."

Gabe didn't really need to think about it. "As long as she loves me still I want her back. Whatever happens between Moira and myself it shouldn't affect her relationship with Chloe. Do what you need to and I'll do what I can."

"We will start work on getting her transferred to our care, then it will be a matter of trying to help her anyway we can. If need be Jean or another telepath will go in and try and bring her out or act as a bridge until we get something more permanent set up, she is currently catatonic."

* * *

With Joseph Willowbrook still unaware of the memories he no longer remembered, Kyla was wary of spending time with Clark or his friends. Not after what they had done to her grandfather. But that was no longer an option as far as Amara and Dani were concerned as they had heard what Aphrodite said to her. This led them to confront her as she left Granville High School a few days later.

"What do you want?" She asked distrustfully.

"We need to talk about that thing you need to confess. The thing Aphrodite mentioned." Dani said seriously.

"She doesn't know what she's talking about." Kyla said dismissively as she tried to move past the two women, but both blocked her way.

"The goddess does not use words like 'justice' and 'crime' lightly." Amara said firmly. "She also wouldn't lie to the family of Death. Harry has killed gods and goddesses before and he would do it again. Now you need to tell us what happened so we can start to try and deal with it."

Kyla said nothing. She wouldn't look at them, she felt shame and guilt but most of all she felt fear. Fear as to what the consequences would be for causing the death of a man. An innocent one at that.

"The triplets you met at dinner, they know what it is." Amara said softly.

Kyla's head shot up.

"They won't tell us but you were thinking about it so loudly that they couldn't help but hear your thoughts. They keep that kind of information very confidential as it isn't theirs to know in the first place. Would you prefer that they told us? So you don't have to?" Amara offered compassionately.

"You should tell us yourself." Dani said in a much firmer tone. "Aphrodite spoke of you as marking the beginning for Harry's Apprentice. Clark is that apprentice and we take Clark's life and happiness very seriously. We don't know what sort of impact you will have on Clark's life but do you really want your prophesied Naman to look at you with disappointment simply because you couldn't stand up and do the right thing?"

Kyla winced at the way Dani told her she had the chance to be part of something important and in the same breath told her that she may have already ruined that chance.

"Kyla… Clark and Harry can forgive a lot. But they can't forgive you if you aren't willing to stand up and confess your sins and take your punishment." Amara told her.

"Can I have some time to think about it?" Kyla asked weakly.

"Don't take too long. Until you confess we won't allow you to see Clark or the caves and we definitely won't be restoring your grandfather's memories." Dani informed her.

Kyla looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Blackmail?"

"No, this isn't blackmail. This is us ensuring Clark's safety. If you don't stand up, we will erase your knowledge of us and Clark. You will have to suffer with the burden of your crime without our friendship."

"Take a few days and when you are ready come and see us at the castle." Amara broke in. "We will be waiting."


	25. Chapter 25

With the new bank open and the Smallville residents eagerly switching to get away from Lionel Luthor's iron grip it was obvious that the castle residents were going to attract the attention of the egotistical maniac. Then came the issues with his planned plaza being in violation of historical protection orders.

None of the residents were surprised when Amara and Harry received an invitation to a meeting in Metropolis at LuthorCorp Plaza. It was only a few days after the incident with the caves.

Harry and Amara took the chopper into the city and then an expensive limo to the Plaza.

That was when things got… annoying.

The guards were being a little too thorough with their security checks and frisks that Amara gave one of them second degree burns. They then tried to get them to submit to a strip search.

Amara just glared at them and pulled out her phone.

"Come on Princess, put your phone away and step behind the curtain so we can search you properly." The lead guard leered.

Harry just rolled his eyes. There was no way that Amara would let these creeps get away with this. If they were lucky they would get a few years in jail. If they were unlucky they would find themselves missing certain appendages and abilities… like potty training.

Amara whispered harshly into the phone before putting it away.

"Shouldn't be long." She told Harry as she stood next to him and wrapped an arm around his possessively.

"Maybe we should deal with your boyfriend first." Another guard sneered. Harry was still the same as he had been all his adult life. Five foot ten and fairly wiry. He was an easy target for bullies.

"You really don't want to do that." Harry warned calmly.

"Maybe you'd like to watch whilst we frisk your girlfriend again."

The guard stepped forward.

"You do realise you are just digging yourself a bigger hole, right?"

The guard grabbed Harry by the back of the neck and threw him into the middle of the lobby where they proceeded to kick and punch him. Amara gasped but took no action, she wasn't worried about Harry one bit, she was just shocked at the brutality.

The lead guard had her by the shoulders. "Mr. Luthor wanted a message sent. Unlucky for you, because you get to be part of it." He whispered in his ear.

Amara shuddered in disgust, which the guard took for fear.

"We're going to have a lot of fun with you, the best part is we get paid for it." He said as he tried to caress her breast.

That was the last straw.

"Harry. I've had enough. Kill these bastards." She said loudly.

The guards laughed until one of them suddenly seemed to slip and fall backwards smashing the back of his head against the cold hard floor. Another guard spewed blood everywhere as Harry shot up with a fist to the man's chin.

Harry turned and glared at the remaining two men who were backing up towards where the lead guard had Amara. Harry was about to step forward when the lobby doors opened and Captain Sawyer burst in with several officers, their guns drawn.

"Release the woman and put your hands in the air." Sawyer ordered.

"We were just detaining them as they tried to bring firearms into the building." The lead guard assured the Captain.

"Then why did Miss Aquilla call me about sexual assault and battery? I won't ask you again, release the woman and put your hands up."

The guards shared a look before they stepped away from Harry and Amara and raised their hands. They weren't too worried. Luthor would bail them out. He couldn't afford to have them confessing they were working on his orders.

"Dr. Potter, Miss Aquilla." The Captain greeted them. She could see bruises and cuts all over Harry's hands and face. "Someone call a bus." She called over her shoulder.

"I'll be fine, Captain, thank you." Harry assured her.

"I'd rather not take that chance, Doctor. Besides, I would assume you would like to get the damage documented?"

"I suppose it couldn't hurt." Harry shrugged.

"Is Luthor even in the building?" Amara asked in frustration.

"I'm not sure. But we will need to find out, these men do work for him after all." Captain Sawyer said.

"Speak of the devil." Amara scowled as she saw Lionel Luthor exit an elevator with at least one sycophant and one bodyguard. His little white stick was out in front as he nastily shrugged off the aid of the sycophant.

"Why are the police here and accosting my men?" Lionel demanded.

"They were assaulting these two people who say they had an appointment with you today." Sawyer said as she positioned herself between Harry and Amara and Lionel's group.

"I highly doubt that. My men are highly trained and very respectful. I also don't have any appointments for today." Lionel denied.

"We have a recording of the phone call between Mr. Luthor and Doctor Potter where Mr. Luthor personally invites Doctor Potter to meet him today to discuss some issues." Amara spoke up as she handed a flash drive to Sawyer.

"We also want to press charges against Mr. Lionel Luthor as our attackers clearly stated that they were being instructed and paid by Mr. Luthor to assault us."

"I find your accusations to be insulting young lady. You can be sure I will counter-sue for defamation of character."

Amara pulled out a recording device from her purse. "This is an audio and video recording of the assault." She said as she handed it over and then pulled off her glasses and earrings. "These are the devices that performed the recordings."

She placed them on the receptionists counter.

"They are covered by various patents and secrecy contracts so we can't let you have them." Harry said, stopping the Captain from taking them as evidence.

As the victims in the case it wasn't necessary, the recording would be sufficient.

"I find that the word of people who would underhandedly sneak bugs into my building is astounding in it's lack of sincerity." Lionel sneered.

"Well, it was your son that advised us to do it. He was pretty pissed when he found out you had his home bugged, especially his office."

"I will not stand here-"

"That's enough Mr. Luthor." Sawyer said loudly. "I have enough here to take you in for questioning. You will be escorted to the precinct and we can discuss it there."

"Dominic, call my lawyer." Lionel said stiffly.

"Before you go and before I have my injuries cared for, allow me to refute any claim of honesty that Lionel Luthor has ever made." Harry said as his hand shot out.

Lionel's own hands shot up to defend himself from the ping-pong ball Harry had thrown at him.

Captain Sawyer just glared at the 'blind' man. "Thank you very much Doctor. I think, considering what I have seen and learnt here, that Mr. Luthor will need to be thoroughly searched when he arrives at the precinct."

"We will be at the precinct as soon as the paramedics clear Dr. Potter." Amara assured the Captain.

* * *

Captain Sawyer was just leaving the interrogation room holding one of the guards when she sighted Lex Luthor storming down the corridor.

"Mr. Luthor, I'm going to have to ask you to wait in the lobby." She said firmly.

"I just want to make sure they are alright." Lex said respectfully.

"You're father is fine."

"My father? Not him. Harry and Amara. They are friends of mine. I warned them it was dangerous meeting my father on his own terms."

"Would you be willing to submit to an interview?"

"You let me check on my friends and I'll sing like a canary." Lex told her sincerely.

"Very well. Let me check with them first." She said.

She was only gone for a minute before she returned and led Lex to her office.

"Are you two ok?" Lex asked immediately. "God Harry! Why didn't you defend yourself?" Lex demanded as he saw the bruises on Harry's face.

"It would have been harder to get them arrested if they were injured. I only intervened when it was too much for Amara."

"Could you explain that please?" Sawyer asked suspiciously.

"Harry is a highly skilled fighter. We sometimes spar at everything from fencing to mixed martial arts. Amara is also skilled. Sometimes we train as a group, one person against the group. With our backgrounds and the threats we face it is wise to be able to defend ourselves. Those guards would have not been a problem for Harry. He could have easily engaged them all and held them off until you arrived."

"Dr. Potter, did you and Miss Aquila go to LuthorCorp Plaza with the intent to provoke these men and Mr. Lionel Luthor?"

"No we didn't." Harry said firmly. "Lex warned us that Lionel was used to underhanded methods. I quite agree with him, a simple investigation of how he abandoned his young son and daughter will show he has a callous disregard for human life."

"I thought you were an only child, Mr. Luthor."

"So did I. It was only when the mothers of both my half-siblings turned up accusing Lionel of stealing their children and giving them away that I even knew I had other relatives. My mother died soon after my full brother, Julian, died as a baby."

"I'm sorry Mr. Luthor, I didn't realise." Sawyer said sincerely.

"Neither did I." Lex gave a mirthless chuckle.

Captain Sawyer cleared her throat. "I don't believe that these revelations will affect the investigation, we have the recording after all. I won't ask you to stay in the city, but I will ask that you remain in either Metropolis or Smallville for at least a week so we can contact each other easily.

"That shouldn't be a problem. I will be back at my job at the school tomorrow and Amara will likely be tied to a chair by her girlfriend." Harry smirked at a blushing Amara.

Sawyer blushed at that as well. "Well… as long as you are available."

"Captain, what are the chances of my father getting away with this?"

"You should know the answer to that as well as I do, Mr. Luthor." Captain Sawyer said disgustedly as she turned and walked off.

"In other words she's already had calls from the DA and the Mayor's office to sweep this under the rug." Lex sighed.

"Don't worry, we weren't expecting to catch him today." Harry slapped him on the back. "This just gives us a reason to destroy him. And that will be so much more fun."

* * *

Christmas was always a fun time for the castle residents. Nearly all of them had worked with children when they weren't raising their own. There was an undeniable joy to be experienced from seeing young children's excitement and happiness on Christmas morning and the days leading up.

It had been a long time since the residents of the castle had been a part of a small community, not since the X-Men were based out of Westchester, New York. For Harry it was even longer.

They were making the most of it though as they decided to throw a Christmas celebration for the whole town on Christmas Eve. The weather was freezing and snow was falling. Emma and Scott had arranged for the school to be the heart of the celebration. There was music from the schools own pupils and local residents thanks to Dani rounding them up and convincing them to play.

Food was supplied in the form of a buffet.

People mingled and chatted, it was a much different experience for a customer to talk to their grocer at a social function than it was whilst picking up the fruit and veg.

At 10 PM Harry ascended to the stage, most of the town knew him by now. He healed their children at the school, he worked the emergency room at the local medical centre and most importantly he saved many of the townspeople from Lionel Luthor with his new bank and the offer to pay for all transfer fees.

"Friends! Countrymen! Smallvillians! Lend me your ears!" He greeted loudly, much to the amusement of the crowd. "Hopefully you've enjoyed this evening as much as I have. Christmas is very much a time for family but I believe that family is as large or small as you choose. I choose this town to be my family."

The crowd cheered happily at the sentiment.

"As my family, I am asking for a favour."

The smiles faltered as thoughts of Lionel Luthor flitted through their minds.

"Down the road is the Smallville Medical centre. Many of the current patients couldn't make it today; a good few are children. There are several struggling hospitals in Metropolis that have children suffering and missing out on Christmas.

"Now I am not asking for monetary donations. What I would like is for some of you, say fifty to a hundred, to volunteer to help me deliver these to the children tomorrow morning."

The curtains behind him parted to reveal a mountain of parcels.

There were gasps and cheers from the crowd.

"I recommend you get into groups of ten or so and pick two of you to go. Don't feel ashamed or pressured into doing this, some people have personal reasons for not doing it. Some of you might have previous commitments."

It was a very excited town that got to work that night.

There were some very surprised sick children the next day.

Kansas was officially the happiest state for Christmas.

* * *

On New Year's Day Amara and Dani received the visit they had been waiting for. Kyla Willowbrook arrived at the castle looking for them.

"Happy New Year, Kyla." Amara greeted the younger girl.

"Tell me that when I've made my confession." She said clearly depressed.

"Come on, we'll go somewhere quiet." Amara said as she took Kyla's hand.

They walked up to the Astronomy Tower, Amara hadn't wanted to spook Kyla by teleporting her. She and Dani sat down with Kyla and waited patiently.

The girl was still torn, but clearly in agony over the guilt.

Eventually she spoke. "I killed the foreman at the new LuthorCorp site. It was an accident!" She added hastily. "But, I was setting up some gasoline to destroy some of the equipment to stop the work, but I didn't know the foreman was still there. He interrupted me, I wasn't… I can change into a wolf and he fired a flare gun to scare me off… he didn't know he was standing in the fuel."

Amara sat beside her and pulled her into a hug as Kyla began to cry.

* * *

An hour later Kyla had cried herself out and Amara and Dani had convinced her to make her confession to Harry and Clark who had the authority to pronounce judgement, or at least a judgment that other gods and the castle residents at least would recognize.

"You swear you meant no physical or mental harm to anyone?" Harry asked having heard Kyla tell her story.

"I swear." She said defeatedly.

"Kal-El, sometimes it falls to us to sit in judgement over others. I don't expect it to be a common occurrence for many centuries, but this will be a good time to start." Harry told his Apprentice.

Clark just swallowed. "I'm not sure I should be a part of this. This specific situation, I mean."

"Why?" Harry asked neutrally.

Clark's mouth opened and closed but he couldn't figure out how to phrase it.

"Speak plainly Kal-El. Honesty should be applauded." Scott spoke up.

The castle residents and Clark were the only ones other than Kyla present in the living room. Martha and Jonathan had been asked to leave and had respectfully done so. Lex hadn't been over and Lana had excused herself with the Triplets to keep her company.

Clark sighed and gathered his courage. "I am attracted to Kyla Willowbrook and I might not be able to be impartial."

Both Kyla and Clark were blushing at this.

Harry just nodded. "I will help you maintain your impartiality." He assured him. "Come, we will go somewhere more private to deliberate."

"I offer the island of Themiscyra." Amara stood and bowed.

* * *

"Does Harry often do this sort of thing?" Lana asked as she sat with the Cuckoos in her room. They were getting ready for bed and talking whilst Kyla sat under Harry and Clark's judgement.

"Apparently he used to in his birth world. But in our world he acted as more of an executioner for immortals and those considered invulnerable." Phoebe answered.

"You mean the ones who committed crimes, right?"

"Yes, although there were some who were not true immortals, like Emma. Their bodies could live forever but their souls would succumb to a natural madness. Harry was the only one who could help them move on to the other side."

Lana nodded. The others had often spoken about the fact that there were very few true immortals. That despite the fact that Harry could keep her body young and alive forever her soul would deteriorate after four to five thousand years, maybe less.

"Of course he was often called to preside over cases between the gods." Mindee said. "Much like with the Thor of this world and our Thor."

"I'm going to miss Loki when they leave." Celeste sighed. "And losing Thor to look at will break my heart."

Phoebe just rolled her eyes. There were times when the Cuckoos couldn't even understand themselves.

"The important thing about this for Clark is that Kyla is a potential soul mate." Phoebe said.

Lana's blood ran cold at that. Her heartbeat quickened and a sheen of sweat covered her body. She knew Clark would find someone else; it was the very reason she broke up with him. But to realise it would happen so soon… she didn't know if she was ready.

"You're thinking very loud." Mindee winced with her sisters.

Lana blushed. "I can't help it. I just don't know what to do." She felt like crying.

Sensing this, Celeste crawled onto the bed next to Lana and pulled her into a hug. "Clark having a soul mate is inevitable. You knew that, we made that clear. But you said you weren't sure you could share him. This is your chance to get to know one of his potential soul mates. See if maybe you can change."

"You will always be Clark's first love." Mindee told her.

* * *

"Princess Diana, it's good to see you." Harry greeted the young Amazon with a smile.

"Lord Death." She said with a bow. "And Lord Kal-El."

"Unfortunately Kal-El and I require somewhere private to discuss a matter of some importance. Queen Amara suggested we might find some place here."

"Of course." She said. "If you will follow me."

She led the two powerful beings down several hallways before stopping in front of two double doors with a pair of guards outside. "This is the war room. It has not been used as such for many centuries, I am told. I have only ever seen it used as a meeting place."

"Princess, is it wise to allow stranger… male strangers into somewhere so important?" One of the guards asked respectfully.

"This is Queen Amara's husband, Harry and the Norse God of Thunder, Kal-El. Harry is the Aspect known as Death and Aphrodite herself calls him her equal." Diana explained.

"My apologies My Lords." The guard said as they both bowed.

"It's not a problem. You meant no insult and I will infer none."

"Likewise." Clark smiled at the guards.

The guards opened the doors for the trio and Diana ushered them in.

"May I have a meal prepared and some drinks for you?" Diana offered as she stood at the door.

"Thank you, but not today. Hopefully we shall not be long. We will come and find you when we are finished to say farewell." Harry smiled at her.

Diana bowed and backed out of the room, closing the door.

"I still can't believe you have to marry her." Clark breathed once they were alone. "You barely see one another, she hardly looks you in the eye even!"

"Clark, we have an eternity. She isn't even eighteen yet. She needs time to get past the fact that I outrank the goddesses, then we can start to converse and get to know each other." Harry explained.

"It just seems a bit… surreal to me."

"Yes, well… speaking of soul mates. Did Aphrodite mention that Kyla has the potential to be one of yours?" Harry asked apprehensively.

"Are you joking?" Clark asked seriously. It was often hard to tell with Harry.

"Not about this. Her soul is already reaching out to yours and yours is responding. It's a beautiful thing to watch."

"Is that why I am attracted to her?"

"It helps that she is pretty damned hot." Harry grinned.

"Then maybe I really shouldn't be a part of deciding her punishment." Clark pointed out a little annoyed.

"No, this means that your first case will be quite hard for you. Hopefully the next one will be easier. Standing judgement over friends and family is always hard. I want you to do so for this case, but I may never ask you to have to do it again."

"I hope none of my friends or family would do something that means I'd have to!"

"I'll remind you that I could have asked you to sit in judgement over Chloe for what she did to you."

"I was the victim though."

"Which would have been another decent test." Harry nodded. "Now, let's get down to the matter at hand. What are your thoughts on Kyla's confession, guilt and punishment?"

Clark sat down at the stone conference table and sat there thoughtfully. He knew Harry wouldn't disturb him or rush him.

After a few moments he began to speak.

"Based on the evidence and confession, what would be the standard sentence in America?"

"First Degree Murder."

Clark looked horrified.

"It's felony murder. She was committing vandalism, which is a felony, and a death occurred during the act. Now she wouldn't get the death penalty as there was no intent, but the law is fairly clear on felony murders." Harry explained.

"But it was an accident! She went there at night when the place was supposed to be empty." Clark argued.

"She did. But ask yourself this: She was working in the dark, what if she had caused damage that might have killed someone the following day or even that night if the fire department responded?"

Clark nodded, but scowled all the same. It hardly seemed fair.

"There has to be a better way. Some middle ground?" He asked.

"We are the middle ground, Clark." Harry said as he sat down opposite Clark. "The difference between me and the judicial system of the United States and the rest of the world is that I can read the intent and honesty of a person.

"Kyla's soul is stained with grief, not evil, because of killing. She told us the truth about her intent. I fully agree that the recommended punishment doesn't match up with her crimes. Our job is to determine how we can see justice done."

Clark sighed and leaned back in his chair. Although the crime wasn't worthy of what the courts might say, she had caused the death of a man and Clark couldn't fool himself into believing anything less than jail time was warranted.

"Ok, is it true that the vandalism is a lesser crime than say, causing an accidental death?" Clark asked as he sat forward again.

Harry just nodded.

"What if we ignore the vandalism and just focus on the fact that she caused someone to die, and that it was unintentional?"

"Reckless Homicide. Involves around two to seven years jail time and a possible fine." Harry answered automatically.

Things were beginning to look a bit brighter for Clark; he now had a more reasonable timeframe to work with.

"Right, now what about the intent to commit a crime?"

"The difference would be that a person arrested for drunk driving knows it is illegal to do so and could hurt someone. Kyla knew it was wrong to commit vandalism but at the same time she took every reasonable precaution. Drunks _can't_ take reasonable precautions because the alcohol precludes reason. They also know this before they drink and drive."

"That doesn't sound very different though."

"It's a nuance, some might call it semantics but there is a reason why we don't abide by a strict set of rules, Clark. We take every case and apply what we believe to be justice."

"What if we're wrong?" Clark asked worriedly.

"Then we do our damndest to correct our mistake." Harry said firmly. "Now, based on the information, do you have a sentence?"

"One last question: Did the foreman have any family?"

"An ex-wife, we won't be considering her though. Nasty piece of work." Harry grimaced.

Clark nodded and laid out his thoughts in his mind before speaking.

"There is no one to pay a fine to. But she did get a man killed through reckless means even though she took every precaution. But a man still died and pretty horrifically at that.

"Two to three years imprisonment with some sort of community service as probation afterwards for at least a year." Clark said quickly wanting to get it out.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

"Five years seems harsh under the circumstances. If she had been doing the vandalism because she enjoyed it I would say more than five years, but she was trying to save her heritage."

Harry gave a single nod. "Ok, let's go and say goodbye to Diana."

* * *

It was almost ten o'clock at night when Clark and Harry returned to the castle.

"Is she catatonic?" Clark asked.

Kyla was sitting there with her eyes open, unmoving.

"No, I put her in stasis so she wouldn't have to sit there worrying." Jean explained.

She stepped forward and waved a hand.

Kyla blinked, from her point of view Jean had suddenly moved and Harry and Clark had appeared from nowhere.

"What happened?"

"Just like I said, you'd never realise it had happened." Jean said with a smile.

"You made your decision?" She asked nervously.

"We have." Harry stated seriously. "Lord Kal-El came up with a suitable and well reasoned sentence. Two to three years imprisonment with community service afterwards."

Clark had his head bowed shamefully. He had condemned a possible friend and soul mate to prison.

"No… that's fair. I looked up what the courts would give me." Kyla said with some relief.

"It is fair." Harry agreed. "But for one important fact I withheld from Kal-El."

Both Clark and Kyla's heads shot up.

"You are still a minor, you are subject to the juvenile laws of the land. It is not something that we would always consider, often times we would apply a full adult sentence, but there are times when it is pertinent.

"The time period will be three years, during that time you will serve your sentence on the island of Themiscyra under the watch of the Amazons who will teach you what it means to be an Amazon. You will have no contact with the rest of the world.

"You won't be imprisoned in the traditional sense." Harry explained. "This is more like sending you off to camp. You will learn a lot whilst you are gone."

"How will we explain this to Grandfather?" She asked tearfully.

"We won't. When the time is done I will bring you back to this time and it will be as if you never left." Harry assured her.

"Time travel?" She couldn't help the awe in her voice.

"I seem to be getting better at it."

That caused a worried look.

"I have trouble returning to the exact time I left. I am always out by a few days." He explained.

"It won't affect you Kyla." Dani assured her. "The Harry in the future will bring you back so he will be the one who has the time issues when he returns to the future."

"But I'll be gone and nothing will have changed?"

"Exactly. You will be worked hard on the island and you won't be able to discuss your trip with anyone outside the castle. But you will have served a suitable sentence." Amara warned.

"When do we leave?"

"Now." Amara said as she placed a hand on Dani's shoulder and they vanished.

Clark was a little shocked. "She didn't get much of a warning."

"Consider it part of her punishment." Harry said. "Well, she should be back within- oh, here she is." He said as he saw himself and Kyla appear.

"She did well. Proved herself and earned her place amongst the Amazons." The future Harry, who always referred to himself as 'James', informed them.

"Nothing else to worry about?" Harry asked.

"Only that no one did a memory scan, she can't recall if there were any appointments or events she was supposed to deal with other than spending time with her family." James said sheepishly.

"Damn… it's been so long since we had to do this sort of thing. We didn't even realise it was a problem until Reed nearly blew up his building with that experiment he had forgotten to monitor." Harry said, annoyed with himself.

"It shouldn't be too hard to fake." Dani assured them. "If necessary we will have her make friends with the Triplets, one of them can follow her around and read people's minds to see if she was supposed to know or do something."

"Clark, why don't you drive Dani home." Scott suggested. "Use any of the cars, you know where the keys are."

* * *

Gabriel answered the door to find Harry Potter and his daughter standing there.

"Chloe!" He cried in relief as he pulled her into a hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too Daddy." She said as she began to cry.

"If you have any questions give me a call. Day or night." Harry told them both before he vanished on the spot.

Gabriel led Chloe inside and they both sat on the couch.

"How are you?" He asked.

"Tired." She laughed. "But I learnt a lot of neat tricks."

"Oh?"

"I can now kill, skin and cook a boar." She said proudly.

"Does that mean I can put camping back on the holiday list?" He asked hopefully.

"No. I spent a few days sleeping outside but most of the time we stayed indoors. All I can say is thank god they have some form of indoor plumbing!"

"What about your… lesson?" He asked tentatively, she had been sent there as punishment for invading Clark's privacy.

"I knew what I did was wrong the second they mentioned it." Chloe admitted. "I had simply forgotten about it in the wake of Harry and Clark's revelations. I know I shouldn't have done it in the first place… but… well, Amara said they knew I had learnt my lesson already. The punishment was mainly to reinforce the lesson and give some justice to Clark, I did nearly rip him from his family."

"Did they tell you about your mother?" He asked quietly.

"They told me everything, Dad." She pulled him into a hug. "I owe her a big apology when I see her. What about you? You know this means she still loved you."

"It's hard. Dr. Grey says she is currently catatonic. She is due to be moved to Metropolis from Edge City this week. We can visit her more easily then."

"I've seen them do some impressive stuff, Dad. If anyone can help her, it's Harry and his family."

* * *

The drive to Granville was about forty-five minutes.

Kyla may now have been three years older but Clark was also at least a year older. Both had been told at some point that they really didn't count the time spent outside of their normal time as part of their age. It was just too annoying to try and explain. So they were both considered fifteen years old. They were respected by those they knew as a seventeen year old and eighteen year old as they should be.

The person it really benefited was Harry, who was closer to twenty-five million years these days thanks to numerous time-travel adventures.

Forty-five minutes alone for two teenagers who knew they might be soul mates boiled down to one word: Awkward.

The first few minutes were spent in Awkward Silence.

Then began the tentative Awkward Conversation.

"So… how was Themiscyra?" Clark asked.

"It was nice… there were a few scary moments I think, you were there for them." She frowned in thought.

"You don't remember?"

"Harry removed those memories so I couldn't tell anyone about them. I wasn't allowed to see you or Harry at all during my time there. Or Princess Diana and your friend Chloe. In fact, I'm not allowed back to the island until after my three years have passed this time round." She said sadly.

"You really enjoyed it there?" Clark asked slightly surprised.

Kyla smiled fondly. "I made a lot of friends, I _am_ an Amazon now. They performed a ritual and the goddess Aphrodite granted me the gifts of the Amazons."

"Oh… when did that happen?"

"About a year ago. For me that is."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

"So we're soul mates?" Kyla suddenly said.

"Potential soul mates." Clark corrected uncomfortably. "We have the potential but the process started already, according to Harry."

"Do we need to start dating?"

"Eventually we can." Clark said quietly.

"Eventually?" She asked slightly hurt.

"Kyla, for you it's been three years. For me, I found out less than hour ago that you got a man killed, less than half an hour ago I had to decide your punishment myself.

"I'm going to need a bit of time to deal with this."

Kyla nodded sadly. She could still remember how bad she felt three years ago her time.

"There is something else that you need to think about." Clark said nervously. "You aren't my only potential soul mate according to Harry and Aphrodite."

"Oh… so… you have a choice?" She asked in disappointment.

"Not a choice, you have to decide if you can handle being one of many." Clark took a deep breath. "I still love Lana Lang, but she broke up with me because she found out that at some point I will have many girlfriends at the same time like Harry and Coach Summers. She doesn't think she can share me. But neither you nor I will have a choice in the matter."

"Oh!" She was now very shocked.

"Yeah, 'oh'."

"Maybe you're right, we should both take some time." She agreed slowly.

"Yeah… I hate being right."

"It might not be as bad as you think Clark. You are Naman after all, and a god. Maybe this is the way things should be."

"Thor only has one wife. Loki has no one, Odin has one."

"Queen Amara says that you are Harry's Apprentice, he has many, I think you need to compare yourself to him." Kyla said.

"Harry is not an easy man to measure up to. I don't even think it's possible."

"Doesn't mean you shouldn't try."


	26. Chapter 26

Despite needing time apart, Kyla and Clark couldn't help but be around each other. Both of them were interested in the caves and Dani was always spending time with Kyla and learning about her tribe and working the caves herself. Clark found it hard to have any reservations about Kyla as most of his worries were to do with her resenting him being one of her judges and her having to share him. She never brought it up and she spent quite a lot of time as close to him as she could without touching him.

With the snow gone working the farms became easier. Hippolyta was simply depressed; she spoke to no one and did her assigned duties silently.

One night Amara never came home.

Nobody was worried as they assumed she was working or with the Amazons. After so many millennia together no one felt the incessant need to keep tabs on each other. They were usually courteous enough to let each other know where they were though.

They were surprised when they received a mental call to meet her at the Sheriff's office.

When Harry, Clark and Dani arrived they were shocked to find her in a cell.

"What the hell are you playing at Miller?" Dani demanded. "Why is she in there?"

"I found her slumped at the wheel by the side of the road. She had a blood alcohol level of 2.0 and a weapon on the front seat. Lionel Luthor was found shot at the Mansion last night with the same calibre weapon. I had no choice." Miller snapped.

"2.0?" Harry asked with a small smile. "So she was dead when you found her."

"What?"

"A blood alcohol level of 2.0 means I would be dead. I also don't recall taking a test." Amara said waspishly.

Harry reached into his pocket and conjured a needle and syringe pack. "I'll take a blood sample for proper testing." He said.

"I can't authorise that."

"You don't have a choice in the matter, Sheriff. This is my choice and I give permission. I would like you to take two vials though Harry, send one to Captain Sawyer and have her run the test to make sure there is no bias."

"Should I send one to Gordon too?" Harry teased.

"That man has enough to do." She rolled her eyes.

"How much is bail?" Dani asked heatedly.

"That will be up to the judge." He said as he drew himself up.

"You're an idiot Miller. This will be your last term as Sheriff even if I have to run for the office myself." Dani snarled as she pulled out her phone and walked out.

Harry moved in closer to Amara so he could talk privately and draw the blood through the bars. "You are physically fine. No signs of trauma or anything to worry about other than being drugged."

"Do you know what it is?" She asked.

"Animal tranquiliser. You have a dart wound in your upper back. Whoever shot Lionel wanted to set you up."

"This could be bad for our case if word gets out."

"Screw the case, I intend to find the bastard and nail them to the wall. I'm fairly certain that Miller is involved as he lied about the Blood Alcohol test." Harry snarled.

"Is there anything you need, Amara?" Clark asked. He had a feeling he might have to keep a hold on Harry for the next few days; he was definitely baying for blood.

"No, but someone should go to the island let Diana know what's happened."

"They won't try and start a war will they?" Clark asked only half joking.

"No, they will want to though." She laughed. "Someone needs to keep a lid on this as well, we don't need this news to get out and taint our case."

"Don't worry, one of us will get on it." Harry assured her. He leaned in and gave her a kiss. "I doubt Dani will be leaving your side anytime soon so Clark and I will handle this." He said holding up the blood vials.

"I can deliver those if you want." Clark offered.

"Thanks Clark. Let me just write up some labels."

* * *

Dani was not surprised when an hour later Kyla came bursting into the holding area.

"Your Majesty! Are you alright?" She asked hastily.

"Remember your surroundings Kyla." Amara said softly.

Kyla blushed as she realised her slip. "I'm sorry, but for the last three years I have only called you that or something similar."

"Shouldn't you be in school Missy?" Dani asked with narrowed eyes.

"I- er- it didn't seem important." She said nervously.

"What do you think your Grandfather will say about this?"

"I wasn't planning on telling him." She sighed.

"That is not the way we do things young lady." Amara said sternly.

"I'm sorry Your- Amara." She said contritely.

"I'll take you home later and we can explain. For now, pay attention and try to learn from what you see."

"Aquila, your friends have to leave, time to head to the courthouse." Sheriff Miller barked as he came in with a pair of handcuffs.

"We'll be following right behind." Dani said firmly.

* * *

The trip was short and the judge was confused.

"Miss Aquila, _you_ are being accused of shooting Lionel Luthor?" Judge David Canton asked incredulously. "What evidence do you have Sheriff?"

"Miss Aquila was found parked by the side of the road with the weapon clearly visible on her passenger seat. She was highly intoxicated at the time." Miller stated.

"Miss Aquila?" The Judge asked.

"The Sheriff has failed to mention that he either botched the Blood Alcohol Test or lied as he claimed it was 2.0."

"2.0! You'd be six foot under! With that much alcohol in your system you would be incapable of recognising a firearm let alone using it."

"Indeed. Dr. Potter has taken a blood sample for testing and I asked him to send a second sample to Metropolis PD for a separate confirmation. Also, Dr. Potter found a puncture mark on my back consistent with a tranquilizer dart."

"Sheriff, I hope you have a decent explanation as to why you brought this case to me and botched it so perfectly." Canton glared.

"The weapon _was_ on the side seat."

"Your Honour, I would like to point out that the weapon has not been run through ballistics yet and the bullets confirmed to be the same as those used on Lionel Luthor. The Sheriff seems to have jumped the gun, so to speak, as he readily assumed it was the murder weapon when it could have been a personal firearm that I had out for protection when my car broke down.

"Not that I am saying that is what happened, but you can hopefully see my point."

"I see it, Miss Aquila. What I fail to understand is why Sheriff Miller refuses to see it."

"Miss Aquila is known to be in a legal dispute with Mr. Luthor and is accusing him of sexual assault." Miller said getting annoyed.

"Whilst true I'm afraid I can't help but wonder at the other facts of the case, Sheriff. Such as you seemingly screwing up a standard Breathalyzer test or jumping to conclusions.

"I'm tossing these charges. No bail, get your office in order Sheriff."

"Your Honour, due to the clear negligence of the Sheriff, I would like to request that Metropolis PD be invited to take over. I fear the Sheriff may not be thinking clearly at this time and would prefer not to see the inside of a jail cell again."

"I would have to agree." The Judge nodded. "I will call the Commissioner immediately. Court is in recess." Canton banged his gavel and made his way to his office.

Amara just turned and slapped the cuffs into Miller's chest leaving the man standing there utterly baffled as to how she got out of them.

"That was so cool!" Kyla gushed.

"Did you have to use… you know?" Chloe asked.

"No, I have plenty of experience having been kidnapped, captured and… well, it gets repetitive." She said before turning to glare at Chloe and Lana. "Why are you two not in school?"

"Please Amara, when your Queen gets framed you don't go to school." Dani scoffed.

"I am not _their_ Queen."

"You were mine for several months and you are still our friend." Chloe said stubbornly.

Amara glanced at Clark. "We both know where I would be, and I have been watching you and the rest of your family do the impossible for over a year and a half now." He said seriously.

"Does Emma at least know you are here?"

"She told us to take notes and write a report on the legal system." Lana smiled.

"Ever the teacher." Amara smiled wistfully. "To think, she used to be the worst kind of villain."

Kyla's eyebrows shot up at that causing Dani to burst out laughing.

* * *

"Dr. Potter, Miss Aquila, I'm Lieutenant Inspector Dan Turpin. The Metropolis Commissioner sent me down to take over the investigation into Lionel Luthor's attack, I was hoping I could talk with you." Turpin was a well-built man, like an American Football player. He had a brown hat to match his brown suit and suspenders. He looked quite old fashioned.

"Of course, we've been expecting you." Amara said as she invited Turpin into the castle and then to a small room nearby with a table and chairs. "Can we offer you food or drink?"

"Thank you but no. I'd like to get down to brass tacks and hopefully out of your way as quick as possible."

"Understood." Amara nodded as she sat down at the table next to Harry.

"I have the initial report from the Sheriff's office, but I was told to ignore it and start from scratch. So, can you tell me what happened to you last night from say six pm?"

"At six I was at the courthouse checking on paperwork regarding the Kawatche Caves that we hold the deeds to the land for. We applied to be the caretakers of the land so that we could buy the land up to protect it from the type of work Lionel Luthor wanted to do: industrial development. I don't actually remember leaving the courthouse, my next memories are of Sheriff Miller arresting me."

Turpin huffed. That wasn't a lot. "Your alibi is pretty thin then?"

"Actually my alibi is iron clad." Amara smirked as she brought out a handheld tablet. "This is the video feed from my car. We install these on all our vehicles as unfortunately, some officers of the law can be bought and people like Lionel Luthor use them to get to us."

Turpin looked at the video he was being shown. He could see various people walking back and forth through a wire fence.

"There's more I take it?"

Amara began tapping on the touch screen device. "This is the recording of what happened to me at around 10:30pm last night."

Turpin watched as the video showed a night-time view as one of the Sheriff's vehicles pulled over Amara's car. He saw Miller himself get out of the car and walk up to the driver's side. Amara tapped the screen as the Sheriff walked out of view of the rear camera and he then saw a view from what he assumed was somewhere on the dashboard facing out the driver's window.

"_Sheriff, is there a problem?"_ Amara could be heard to ask on the recording.

"_I'm going to need your license and registration ma'am."_ Miller instructed.

"_For what reason? You know full well who I am?"_

"_Licence and registration, or are you refusing to cooperate?" _Miller asked with a slight threat.

Turpin saw Amara turn to the passenger side where he assumed Amara had her handbag when he saw Miller pull out a gun and shoot at Amara. There was a soft 'thwip' noise as a dart landed in her back and she slumped over.

He then saw Miller pull out the same gun he claimed to have found on the seat and wiped down before tossing it where he would later 'discover' it.

Amara let the video show him driving off before putting the tablet in standby.

"Can I get a copy of that video Miss Aquila?"

Amara slid over a DVD in a case that was already prepared. "There are videos on there of the whole twenty-four hours from each camera. They are time stamped so you can navigate more easily."

"If you will excuse me I will go and arrest the Sheriff. I trust you will be pressing charges yourself?"

"Of course. I will leave prosecution to the DA though."

"Right. Thank you for your time and I apologise on behalf of law enforcement." Turpin said as he tried to contain his disgust at what he had seen.

"We don't hold the majority of the force to the actions of the few. We hold great respect for Captain Sawyer in Metropolis and Commissioner Gordon in Gotham." Harry finally spoke up.

"Sawyer? Maggie Sawyer?" Turpin asked.

"Yep." Harry smiled.

"Yeah, we went to the academy together." Turpin said with pride. "You have good taste in coppers then. I hear Gordon is really cleaning up Gotham, he even managed to reign in that Bat guy a bit too."

"I've met him. Little bit fanatical but otherwise he's not a danger." Harry assured him.

"You met the loon?" Turpin asked incredulously.

"I did some consulting work for the Gotham DA. I did the mental assessments for Jonathan Crane, AKA The Scarecrow and Jack Napier, AKA The Joker. Both are criminally insane. The Batman took a personal interest in their trials and ensuring they didn't escape. I got to meet him then. Like I said, fanatical, but not a danger."

"The Joker! God, I'd hoped they'd put that rabid dog down." Turpin growled.

"So did I. As far as I'm concerned, the criminally insane like those two should mean a death sentence. They _cannot_ be rehabilitated. I made that abundantly clear." Harry said unhappily.

"Sometimes the law stinks, but at least only parts." Turpin sighed. "Well, I'll let you get back to what's left of your day. Please don't leave town though in case I need to come back for more details."

"Here's our numbers. We already have permission from MPD to travel within Kansas but if you need us we can arrange to come to you or get you to us." Amara said.

"Much obliged Miss Aquila." Turpin said as he went to tip his currently absent hat.

* * *

"Amara's been cleared of all charges and re-classified as a victim." Harry told Jean at the Medical Centre as he donned his lab coat.

"Good. Are we sure Miller is the one who shot Lionel?" Jean asked.

"Fairly certain short of you or one of the others scanning him or Miller confessing."

"Ah, well the Doctors are revolting. They are refusing to deal with Lionel." Jean smirked.

"Who is currently dealing with him? You?"

"Me and Helen. She said she would do it only if I went with her." Jean laughed.

"How bad is he being?" Harry asked.

"He claims he is blind again and is demanding his specialist from Metropolis. We tried the old ball throwing trick but he's been ready for it."

"But no one can see anything wrong with his eyes?"

"No swelling, corneas and retinas are intact and responsive. The bastards faking it."

"You _have_ to be talking about Lionel Luthor."

Harry and Jean turned to greet their colleague Helen Bryce, a beautiful young woman with brown eyes and dark hair.

"What gave it away?" Harry asked with a laugh.

"Jean referred to him as a bastard. As someone who frequents anger management classes… I know that means Jean is really ticked."

"Can't argue with that logic." Harry nodded. "Well, I am off to do some rounds. Have fun with old Lionel."

"Wait, no suggestions? You _always_ have a suggestion!" Helen argued.

Harry stopped at the door and grinned them. "Hysterical blindness."

"Conversion disorder." Jean mused. "I wonder why that isn't already on his charts."

"Think about it. Can Lionel Luthor, the head of a huge multi-national firm be seen to have a psychological problem? There is probably a clause in his contract about it."

"Oh! Thank you Harry, that explains a lot." Jean beamed at him.

Harry just waved goodbye.

"I don't understand, wouldn't one of the previous doctors have ruled it out?" Helen asked.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way."

* * *

"Mr. Luthor, we have managed to determine your eyesight problem." Jean said with a fake smile as she walked in with Helen a step behind her.

"About time. I was wondering just how many incompetent doctors were in this place." Lionel sneered.

"None. But we do have a chronic problem with moronic patients." Jean countered quickly. "Now, we have examined the blood work, the MRI's and your eyes directly and the cause is actually quite obvious, we were surprised it wasn't already caught. You have developed what is known as Conversion Disorder, it used to be known as-"

"I know damned well what it is you are implying and I will tell you the same thing I told those previous quacks, if you put that down on my chart I will have you up on mal-practice charges." He hissed.

"As you can see Dr. Bryce, Mr. Luthor is clearly having anger issues and delusions of grandeur. My advice is to have him sent to the fourth floor for evaluation. They can then decide if we need to transfer him to Metropolis and Belle Reve." Jean said ignoring Lionel.

"Yes. I will begin the paperwork and have it ready for you to sign."

"Now see here!" Lionel said as he tried to feebly get out of bed, he was greatly hampered by the bullet wound.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor, but we have little choice in the matter. You clearly have Conversion Disorder and other mental issues." Jean said faux apologetically.

"Fine! I was faking the blindness." He declared angrily as he focused his eyes on them. "I can see you are wearing your hair tied back and have emerald earrings. Satisfied?"

"Whilst the issue of your blindness has been resolved we still must deal with the fact that you had this pathological need to deceive us. I'm sure your counsellor will be able to help you through this." Jean said as she signed the chart with a flourish and ushered Helen out the door.

"I WILL SEE YOU RUINED YOU HEAR! RUINED!" Lionel screamed as the door closed.

"I assume now would be a bad time to visit my dear father?" Came the dry tones of Lex.

"Lex! I wasn't sure if I would see you before I got off work." Helen smiled as she gently kissed him on the lips.

Lex cleared his throat uncomfortably as he saw Jean standing there smirking at them.

"I can explain." Lex said as he took a step back, taking Helen with him.

"Of course you can. I would love to know how you managed to hide this from all of us." She said with an eager look.

"You know Lex, Jean?" Helen asked.

"Harry and Lex are very good friends, and I live at the castle with Harry. I also consider Lex to be a good friend… hence why I am curious we didn't know he had found someone. Do we need to run a blood test?"

Lex scowled at her teasing.

"Why would he need a blood test? Are you ill?" She asked worriedly.

"You didn't tell her about Desiree?" Jean laughed.

"Considering the embarrassment, no. I did not." Lex hissed.

"Lex, bring Helen round tonight for dinner. We can regale her with some stories of your misadventures."

Jean walked off laughing, leaving a glaring Lex and a confused Helen.

* * *

Tess Mercer couldn't believe she had come here. She had left the comfort of Star City to visit the small town of Smallville to see if her mother and half-brother were worth meeting. She was currently standing outside a huge castle that she never thought she would see the likes of in America.

"Just pull the rope on the side there."

Tess spun around to see a large black man smiling at her.

"Pardon?"

"The rope, it's the bell." He explained.

"Oh… that's… quaint."

"They don't get many visitors. Those of us who work here don't often use the front door." The man explained as he pulled the rope for her. "I'm Earl Jenkins, I work for Harry Potter." He said as he offered his hand.

"Potter? The eccentric billionaire?"

"That's the one. This is his castle."

"Oh… I was looking for-"

"Lorna Dane." Came a voice from the doorway.

Tess hadn't even heard the large door open.

"Lorna! I was beginning to think I had the wrong place." Tess said in relief.

"No, you found me. Come on in. You coming in Earl?"

"No, I was just trying to help the lady out. She looked a little lost." Early smiled at Tess.

"Thank you." Tess said quietly.

"I'll see you later then Earl. Come on in Tess."

Lorna led Tess to the small room nearby where Harry and Amara had taken Inspector Turpin. Only this time the room looked more like a reception area than an interview room.

"I'm glad you came Tess. Your mother and Lex have been getting more and more worried that you didn't want to meet them."

"I wasn't sure I wanted to. Especially after you told me Lex Luthor was my half-brother."

"As I told you, Lex is a good man… he wasn't exactly the pinnacle of society but since he came to Smallville… things have changed him."

"He hasn't exactly been in the papers much. It's been all about Lionel and Potter."

Lorna scowled at that. "Yes, that bastard tried to assault Harry and Amara. We'll get him eventually but Lionel is definitely as bad as you think."

"You honestly think you can beat Lionel Luthor?" Tess asked sceptically.

Lorna just smirked and changed the subject.

"I have two pieces of news. First, you have _another_ half-brother. A woman came to Smallville claiming a young friend of ours was her son. He wasn't but we did discover she gave birth to another of Lionel's children."

"He really didn't know how to keep it in his pants, did he." Tess said in disgust.

"No he did not. What was worse was that he did it all in the same house as his sick wife and young son."

"Have you found this other Luthor?"

"Yes. But we are taking a far more cautious route with him; he is not a nice person. He has connections to various international gangs and he seems to enjoy it."

"The bad seed." Tess muttered.

"An understatement. The second piece of news is that Lex is here now, in the castle. He came here with his girlfriend who we only found out about today. Would you like to meet him?"

Tess froze for a moment. She had to stop herself from asking if Lex still wanted to see her…still wanted her as a sister. After all she had been through she was not going to be weak and kowtow to the whims of others.

"Yes. I will see him now." She said firmly.

Lorna led her out of the small room and through the large lobby and to the grand double doors where the Great Hall was and they held their family dinners.

The room was filled with laughter and loud conversation.

"You must be Tess Mercer."

It was a clearly spoken statement that for some reason got the attention of everyone at the table. The man who sat at the head of the table was young, black messy hair and bright green eyes. Everyone looked to be about the same age except for an older couple nearer her end of the table. There was a blond woman sitting at the end of the table nearest her who stood up.

"We were wondering where you where Lorna. I take it this is what took you away?" The woman was tall with Nordic features.

"Yes Brunhilde. This is Tess Mercer. Tess, meet Brunhilde." Lorna introduced them.

"Lex, come forward and greet your long lost sister." Brunhilde called over her shoulder.

The bald-headed man that everyone in America would recognise rose from his chair next to the man at the head of the table and walked towards them.

Tess was mildly surprised to see that Lex Luthor was nervous. She didn't think Luthor's _did_ nervous.

"Tess. You probably figured I'm Lex. It's good to finally meet you." He said as he held his hand out.

Tess was confused. Confused was probably what anyone would be feeling in a situation like this though. She took the hand.

"I'm told you are nothing like our Father?"

Lex smiled. "My life's goal is to become the exact opposite of him… short of becoming a woman that is."

"And we have another brother?"

"So I'm told. My advice is to leave it in the hands of Lorna and the rest of these people." He indicated the seated group. "They won't do wrong by you."

"Why don't you take a seat? Join us for a meal?" The man at the head of the table offered.

Lex took her hand and led her to where he was sitting. She noticed that there seemed to be an extra chair there now, but nobody else had moved.

She sat down between Lex and the man at the head of the table. A fairly important position if her lessons on etiquette were correct.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Doctor Harry Potter. But just call me Harry."

"_You're_ Harry Potter?" She asked. "But you're so young!"

"Why thank you!" Harry beamed.

"The papers have never gotten a picture of you, everyone thinks you're in your fifties."

"Yeah, they always ask the wrong people about me." Harry smiled. "Anyway, we could sit here and question each other awkwardly, but I suggest we continue with what we were originally doing before you came in. You'll enjoy it as it involves us telling stories of Lex for the benefit of his girlfriend over there, Doctor Helen Bryce." He pointed to the woman seated on the other side of Lex.

"What sort of stories?" She asked.

"Well, we were starting at the beginning." An ebony haired woman asked who sat down the table on the opposite side from her said. "I'm Laura Kinney by the way. I'm one of the coaches at Smallville High along with Scott Summers my fellow coach, Emma Frost the principal, Danielle Moonstar the school counsellor and Lana Lang… student."

She gave the youngest girl at the table a shrug and a smile.

"Ahem!"

"Oh right, and Clark Kent… also a student." Laura winced apologetically as the aforementioned student glared at her.

"This is not one of my best moments." Lex warned. "But it is probably the best thing that ever happened to me."

Tess looked at Lex curiously.

She then turned back to Laura as she and Helen along with Thor, Loki and Sif listened to the rest of the diners tell stories of Lex and his many adventures, from running Clark off the road on the end of his Porsche to becoming enthralled on the love toxins of Desiree Atkins.

Lex sat there red faced through most of it, either through embarrassment or shame.

"And you've only been in Smallville for two years?" Tess asked as they sat in the common room drinking various beverages.

"Year and a half actually." Lex corrected.

"There is one story I haven't heard." She said with a frown. "How did you meet Helen?"

The grin on Helen's face was immense. She turned to Lex and looked at him expectantly.

"Please, after all you've heard today you think how I met you is going to make the top ten?" Lex scoffed.

"Wow… is that really how you chat up a woman Lex?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"She sat there laughing at my expense… I'm entitled to be a little bit snippy." Lex groused. "Go on. None of them know this story."

Helen kissed his cheek before sitting forward still holding Lex's hand. "I have a few issues with anger management. There was an incident where I may have drop kicked an orderly."

"How do you drop kick an orderly?" Lana asked, but then blushed, she still wasn't used to speaking up in a group filled with gods and aspects, even if some of the group was unaware of their nature.

"Yeah, you managed to pick him up and punt him?" Mindee asked.

"Clark, try it with Harry." Celeste said eagerly.

"Stay put Kent or I'll double your training." Harry pointed a finger at the eager looking Quarterback.

Clark pouted theatrically.

"Actually it was the wrestling manoeuvre I performed." Helen admitted.

"You- how and why?" Laura asked confounded.

"The bastard was screwing with a female patient. The how… I just did it."

"I want to know how you got away with only anger management!" Jean laughed. "And how Lionel Luthor survived your care unharmed."

"The anger management was because the orderly was brought up on sexual harassment charges and the court wouldn't touch me. It was the hospital that made me attend the sessions. As for Luthor… I had you and Harry to help with that."

"Ok, how does this lead to you meeting Lex?" Clark asked curiously.

Lex burrowed back into the sofa.

"It seems Lex had a bit of a disagreement with a meter maid and expressed his displeasure with his golf clubs on the guys car."

Everyone just turned to look at the usually well-controlled Lex.

"Dad had moved in." Lex said irritably.

"Ahhh." Came the collective response of understanding.

"I think most of us will understand why Lex might have landed himself in anger management." Helen said as she squeezed Lex's hand sympathetically. "But… despite him asking me out _at_ the meeting, I said no. He didn't actually remember that we had already _met_ before."

"I remembered eventually." Lex said petulantly.

"You should never have forgotten me!" Helen said as she poked him in the chest.

"Well now you are caught up with the life and times of Lex Luthor in Smallville." He said looking at Tess with a self-deprecating smile. "Would you mind telling us the story of Tess Mercer?"

Tess frowned suspiciously. "You're Lex Luthor, you expect me to believe that you didn't go through my life with a fine-toothed comb before you had me contacted?"

"I didn't. I asked Harry to investigate and see if you were worth the trouble."

"I don't know any details myself. Only Lorna and Dani actually know those." Harry indicated the two women.

"I know a fair amount as I helped track you down." Laura offered.

Tess thought for a second. She didn't want to tell too much but doubted for a moment that these people would hunt down her files anyway.

"I spent several years in an orphanage before I was adopted by my parents. I got into Harvard at fifteen and graduated as a marine biologist at seventeen. I had a hard time getting a job at that age but eventually got my foot in the door. Whilst on a biology trip with a friend we were captured I escaped with the shipwrecked Oliver Queen but not before they murdered my friend. We only made it back a year or so ago."

There was a moment's silence as the group digested those facts.

"Fairly short, but hits the highlights." Loki mused.

"You made it into Harvard at thirteen." Lex said quietly.

"What?"

"The only information I've seen is the ones on the news reports about your escape from the pirates. Your age is wrong. Your birth mother says you were born after me. The information must have been written down wrong at the orphanage."

"Oh. So… I'm younger than I thought?"

"And more impressive." Clark said. "I can't imagine going to Harvard at fifteen, let alone thirteen! Was it hard?"

"Yes, but they have special programs for children. I'm not the first to do that, many parents of genius children are offered the opportunity, it's considered quite the feather in their cap for those types of colleges to educate them." She explained.

"I went to Harvard so that gives us something in common." Helen smiled. "Harvard medical school though. But still Harvard."

"I went to Princeton and Yale." Lex said smugly.

"I try not to hold that against him." Helen said with a mock look of disdain.

"What did you study, Lex?" Clark asked curiously.

"Biochemical engineering." He recited.

"Really?" Lana asked completely surprised. "You didn't study business or economics?"

Lex grinned. "I learnt all I needed to from dear old Dad."

"Yes, and now we have to try and help you _unlearn_ it all." Amara scowled.

"Why? What did he do?" Helen asked.

"What Lex knows will only help him if he is out to crush the competition. His business endeavours will never benefit from working with another company like Wayne Enterprises. His father and Alfred taught Bruce Wayne that helping others and allowing them to help you is the best way to do business. The only time he gets ruthless is when his father's legacy is threatened." Amara explained.

"At the moment Bruce won't touch my projects or even look at them." Lex said disappointedly. "I can't blame him as until I improve my business practices it's too risky for him."

"You're getting there." Amara assured him. "You are still fighting the stigma of your father's name."

Helen whispered in Lex's ear and Lex just nodded.

"It is getting late and Helen has her shift first thing tomorrow. So we will be heading off." Lex said as he stood and helped Helen to her feet. "Tess, I'd offer you a room at the Mansion, but I advise against it. Our father has a habit of dropping in and I don't think you will want to meet him. At least not yet."

"She could stay at my house, as long as she doesn't mind being alone." Lana offered.

Everyone just turned to look at the girl who had rarely spoken this evening.

"It's empty. She can have some privacy and it is close enough to the Kent's and the Castle." She shrugged. Meanwhile she was practically screaming at the Cuckoos mentally that she offered so that they wouldn't have to hide their abilities by offering to have her stay at the castle.

"I can stay at the motel. It's no bother." Tess said as she stood. "I already have a room there for a week. But thank you… Lana." She said as she tried to remember the myriad of names.

"Well… it will still be there in a week if you want to stay longer." Lana nodded.

"Thank you."

"I'll walk you out." Lorna offered as Lex and Helen joined them.

"I'm going to go and get Ryan." Clark said as he stood. "He might have felt left out even though he likes Earl and his family."

In order to protect Ryan from having to read new minds involuntarily, they had asked Earl to take him for the evening and possibly the night. Earl's family were aware of Ryan's abilities and had no problems with taking in the young lad.


	27. Chapter 27

The following day was a nice lazy school day for Clark. At least that's what he hoped until he woke up on the hard and unforgiving tarmac of the nearby road in the wee hours of the morning.

He was a little worried when he saw a car driving up, he couldn't tell who it was due to the bright headlights.

"Clark?" The driver asked as they got out.

Clark was very relieved. "Lex! What's going on?"

"You tell me! I was driving back from dropping Helen off at the Medical Centre when I see you out here in your pyjamas." Lex said worriedly.

"I woke up here." Clark shrugged.

"You head to the Castle and tell Harry. I'll go and tell your parents." Lex sighed as he headed back to his car.

Clark sped away as Lex did the same.

* * *

"How did you get out there? Did you run?" Lex asked as he walked in with Jonathan and Martha.

"If my dream is anything to go by I flew." Clark said uncomfortably. He really didn't like the idea that he had sleep flown or that something had controlled him.

"Dream?" Emma asked curiously. Harry's soul mates as well as Scott, Jean and Emma where there including Lana, who was actually bunking with the Cuckoos at their request. Jonathan and Martha were also dressed for bed. Only Lex was in his day clothes.

"I dreamt that I had the key and I placed it in the slot in the caves. It felt very real."

"Considering you wound up near the highway, it might nearly have _been_ real." Lex pointed out. "Did I wake you up or did you wake up naturally?"

"Both, I think. There was a bright light when the key went in and then I awoke to your headlights."

"Alright, looks like we will have to start working on the caves more intensely." Harry sighed.

"I will handle that Husband." Brunhilde said firmly. "I have no obligations on my time and I have the experience and have been working on the ship with Laura."

"I can help too. I'm a fair hand at languages and I have been studying Kryptonian." Loki offered.

"Good, then we can all go back to sleep and try and catch a few hours before the sunrises." Dani groused. She was not a morning person.

"I'm going to go to the lab and look at the ship." Clark said. When the others looked at him curiously he explained. "I really don't want to wake up in a few hours and find out I flew around the world."

"I will come with you Clark." Brunhilde offered. "Harry can boost me for the day so I am not fatigued."

* * *

Clark, Lana, Chloe and the Cuckoos managed to make it through their first class without issue. But none of the six were pleased with the assignment they had been given.

"How are we supposed to do a family tree?!" Chloe demanded angrily.

"I thought you were ok about your mother." Clark said hesitantly.

"_I_ am. That doesn't mean I want to put a spot light on her condition though."

"Well at least you can do a one-sided family tree." Lana sighed. "I have to decide if I want to do the Langs and Potters or the Potters and Smalls."

"Better than being unable to do it because your parents and all records were destroyed when your planet blew up." Clark scoffed. "Let's forget the fact that I can't exactly state I am an alien."

"Such whiny babies." Phoebe said dismissively.

"Our parents were a test tube and a petri dish." Mindee glared at them.

"We didn't have parents to begin with." Celeste said sadly.

The three 'naturally born' teenagers looked a little guilty.

"Everyone grab a blonde and hug." Chloe sighed as she pulled Mindee into a hug.

Lana and Clark exchanged a look before they found Phoebe and Celeste wrapped around them.

They stood like that for a few seconds before Clark squeaked and wriggled out of Celeste's wandering hands.

"A little decorum, Miss Cuckoo." Came the deep and amused voice of Vice-Principal Reynolds.

"Sorry sir. We were just comforting each other over our lack of decent subjects for our family tree project." Lana said respectfully.

Reynolds frowned as he stepped into the room.

"I must admit to taking a more interested look at the files of each of you. Purely because of your various positions in the school." Reynolds explained quickly. "But one thing was clear. Each of you has parents listed or guardians. From what I have learnt from the Principal, Coach Summers and even Lex Luthor is that you have spent much of your childhoods in stable and caring families, correct?"

"Yes sir, but to take one of the extremes, I myself don't know a thing about my birth parents. I never met them." Clark said.

"I believe you are taking the assignment too literally." Reynolds said firmly. "It is not an exercise in genetics from your biology teacher but an exercise in sociology. The Kents care for you and researching them should help you gain a greater appreciation of the young couple who adopted a child all those years ago not knowing how he came into this world.

"The link you have to the people you called parents or guardians maybe be genetically sparse, but it's the familial bonds, the emotional bonds that you are to examine for this assignment." He said passionately.

The teenagers stood silently for a few moments as they thought about what the man had said.

"I will leave you to it. Do try to keep your hands in appropriate places, Miss Cuckoo." He said sternly to Celeste, but there was a glint of amusement in his eyes.

A few seconds after the Vice-Principal left Chloe spoke up. "Anyone who feels really bad about snubbing their parents raise their hand."

Six hands went up.

"Study party at the castle tonight." Mindee said gleefully.

"I'll call my dad." Chloe smiled as she pulled out her cell phone.

Clark pulled his own out but fell to his knees in pain as a sharp ringing began to pound through his head.

"Clark!" Lana cried out as they all gathered around him.

"What is that noise?" Clark ground out.

"I can't hear anything." Chloe frowned.

"Let me listen to your thoughts Clark. I might be able to tell something." Phoebe instructed.

Clark just nodded as he pressed his palms into his ears that did nothing at all though.

"All I can see is that you can tell the direction it is coming from. All you can do is follow it. I will have Brunhilde meet you." Phoebe said firmly. "Now go."

Clark didn't need telling twice as he bolted out the door at super speed.

* * *

Brunhilde was currently going over the remains of the ships computer; there were a lot of things she didn't understand about it. The power source was unique to this universe it seemed and until she could replicate it she was at an impasse, as even magic couldn't power it up. Harry was insistent that they not use the Key or the Heart but Brunhilde was beginning to think that some combination of the two items plus something in the ship was power source.

For now she was examining what passed for the circuitry. A crystal based system. Without being able to replicate the power source she didn't know how to proceed though.

She felt a rush of wind that was commonly associated with Clark entering and exiting an area. She turned around and was surprised to see the door to the safe open. The only things currently in there were the Key and the Heart. The Key was now missing.

She quickly teleported straight to Clark only to find herself in the Kawatche Caves. To her horror she saw Clark suspended in the air by a bright light emitting from the wall.

"_Husband, come to me now. Clark may need you._"

She had barely finished thinking the word 'now' and he was there.

"How did this happen?" Harry asked with a scowl as he wandered around the floating Clark.

"I do not know. He appeared in the lab, took the Key and was gone before I knew he had even arrived. I followed him immediately and found him like this. He is a speedster, there is no telling how fast his mind and body can truly work and what he accomplished in the time it took me to arrive."

All of a sudden the light stopped and Clark fell to the floor.

Harry was on him instantly.

"His brain activity is off the charts. This is similar to what Odin did to him."

"More downloaded information?"

"Here's hoping its just information." Harry began slapping Clark's face. "Clark, wake up! Come on, rise and shine!"

"Urgh! Get off Harry." Clark groaned as he rolled over. "One day I'm going to not realise it's you and punch you into orbit."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Brunhilde chuckled.

Clark looked at her in askance.

"He tried the same thing with the Hulk once." She explained.

"Good, means there is a precedent. I won't get in trouble with Odin and Zeus." Clark said grouchily.

"What happened Clark? What made you take the Key and do that?" Harry asked without any reprimand in his voice as he helped Clark to stand.

"There was this really bad noise that only I could hear. The Triplets, Chloe and Lana were with me. I think one of the Triplets said I should do what I needed to… it's a little fuzzy."

"They confirm the facts. They say you were in a great amount of pain." Brunhilde said compassionately.

Clark just snorted. "I rarely feel pain. I sometimes wonder if I am being a big baby about the equivalent of a splinter."

Harry smiled in amusement. "I've seen your brain activity whilst you were in pain. You have pretty high threshold.

"Now, do you know what that thing downloaded into your noggin?" He asked as he jabbed a thumb at the wall.

"I don't know. Nothing feels new. Not like when Odin gave me the Kryptonian language."

"Alright. I want you to take a break from school. I can say I sent you home. Spend the rest of the day on the farm with your parents. Just relax, we can talk more this evening." Harry ordered before he teleported out.

Clark glared at the empty space where his mentor had vanished. He pulled out his phone and dialled whilst Brunhilde looked on curiously.

"Yeah, sure Harry. I'll get right on that. See ya later." He then viciously punched the phone's hang-up button and took a deep cleansing breath.

When he calmed himself he looked up to see Brunhilde looking at him and trying not to laugh.

"Tell me you don't get annoyed when he does that to you!" Clark challenged.

Brunhilde just laughed.

* * *

"Lex? Lex! Wake up!"

"What? I'm up! I'm up!"

"What is with you? I thought you wanted to talk and now you're falling asleep. In a public coffee shop of all places." Tess scowled.

"Sorry. I dropped Helen off at the hospital very early this morning. Then I nearly ran over Clark who I found sleepwalking down the highway. I have not had much sleep."

"Maybe you should double your caffeine intake for the day."

"I did. I just don't know how Helen does this. She gets barely any sleep and I still found her wide awake when I took her out for lunch today."

"It's the activity. She is always active. I experienced the same thing when I escaped the island with Oliver. We had to take turns manning the helm and looking for help and making sure we weren't- what the hell is that look for?" She demanded testily as Lex had begun to grimace at her tale.

"I'm sorry, it's just I don't like the idea of my sister having anything to do with Queen." He said angrily.

"What did he do to you?" She asked curiously.

Lex said nothing for a few moments. "He's… I knew him growing up Tess. He was _not_ a good person. He is part of the reason I was so reckless in Metropolis."

"Sounds like a story to me."

"Not one I want to talk about, or think about. Nothing personal, I just prefer to repress those memories."

"I'll let it go for now, Lex. But Oliver and I were fairly close, being captives together does that to people." She warned.

Lex scrunched his face unhappily. "Fine, let's change the subject.

"What do you think of our little coffee shop?" He asked with a happier smile.

"Our?"

"Harry owns the building and the theatre, I own the coffee shop and Lana Lang owns the dream. She came to us with a proposal to save the Talon that had been a part of the town for decades. We were impressed by her enough that Harry and I came to an agreement on how to make her dream a reality."

"It's… nice. Not a Starbucks, but it definitely has it's own identity. You have a good stream of customers. Does Lana work here?" She asked as she examined the place with a critical eye.

"She is the Assistant Manager under Scott. Scott acts mainly as the responsible adult who can handle the signing of things and something of a bodyguard. Lana handles the actual running of the shop."

"She deals with the staff?"

"She does. They seem to respect her enough. I haven't heard of any issues but Scott would have dealt with them. I mainly worry about the profit margins."

"Ok, _that_ sounds more like a Luthor." Tess stated firmly.

* * *

"Is that how they do tagging on Krypton?" Chloe asked as she stared up at the side of the barn.

Burnt into the red wooden walls was a Kryptonian symbol that Clark had made when he lost control of himself for moment.

"This isn't funny Chloe." Clark snapped. "What if I had been looking at someone when I did that?"

"Unlikely." Amara said. "You were clearly intending to leave it to be read. I would say you would have looked wherever you could have made it and human flesh would not work."

"Yes, but don't go trying to brand the cattle with that mark either." Dani warned playfully.

Clark just glared at her.

"What does it mean?" Chloe asked as she dug around in her bag.

"Hope. It's the Kryptonian symbol for Hope." Clark told her. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Chloe had her camera out and was taking pictures.

"You wanted information about Kryptonians who visited Earth. If we post this we might get a hit."

"We might get a bunch of UFO nuts snooping as well!"

"I never said I would post where it came from Clark. Have a little faith." She chastised.

"Well… you don't have the best track record really, Chloe." Dani said. "You've got to give him some leeway."

"Fine, but I still think he's overly paranoid."

"Someone who has knowledge of the drawings in the Kawatche Caves has defiled your barn."

The group turned around to see Kyla and her grandfather standing there. Joseph Willowbrook was staring at the symbol on the barn in consternation.

"Yes, bit of an accident I'm afraid." Amara smiled genially.

"I don't think we need to play any games right now." Dani stated as she waved a hand at Joseph.

Joseph stumbled and Clark moved forward to help Kyla catch him.

Joseph shook his head to clear it. When he looked up he stared at Clark in awe.

"Naman!"

Clark just rolled his eyes.

"Forget Naman, how about you remember who _we_ are and who Harry is." Dani said testily.

"You!" Joseph practically snarled. "You stole my memories!"

"We suppressed them. Do you remember why?" Amara asked calmly.

"You want to keep Naman from the tribe!"

"We want you to respect Clark's decisions and those of his family." Dani snapped.

"This has nothing to do with you. Naman is meant for bigger things." Joseph said dismissively.

"ENOUGH!" Clark roared as a crash of thunder rolled overhead.

Kyla and Joseph both stumbled backwards in shock.

"I don't care what you say. I don't care what _they_ say! Someone told me once that there is one person whose opinion outranks everyone from you to Death himself." Clark told Joseph angrily. "Me. My opinion is the one that matters. It is my choice as to whom I tell about who and what I am. Mine alone. Not my parents, not Harry's and definitely not _yours_. If you can't accept that then why should I believe your Tribe will be any better and protect my secrets?"

"The Tribe has waited for you for five hundred years." Joseph said as worry began to set in. "Would you really turn your back on your sacred duty?"

"What gives you the right to decide Clark's sacred duty?" Chloe asked. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"It was prophesied that Naman would come and protect the world." Joseph said his head lifted high in pride.

"Prophesied by whom?" Amara asked.

"By our ancestors, those who came from Naman's own ancestor. Naman's ancestor told us that one of his own bloodline would return to us and that he would be Naman. Naman has come."

"So you have no respect for Clark as a person? As a young boy?" Amara asked.

"His duty is paramount."

"What if I found a counter prophecy that stated Naman would eradicate the Kawatche as they were a threat to the world?" Harry asked as he walked up behind them.

Joseph turned and scowled angrily at the man who was corrupting Naman.

"Would you line up and allow yourselves to be killed?" Harry continued.

"The Tribe is peaceful and no threat to the world." Joseph said certainly.

"Says you. Just like you say who Naman is. But what if the Great Spirit left a prophecy saying you needed to be destroyed? What would you do? Would you obey?

"You are a man. Your ancestors were men. Clark's ancestor was a man. An alien man, but still a man. Nothing on this planet- in this existence gives you the right to dictate the life of another." Harry said as he poked Joseph in the chest angrily.

"Grandfather, they're right." Kyla said pleadingly. "I've seen their power, they are more powerful than Naman and all his people combined. But they are good people."

"What do you mean?" Joseph asked, suspicion entering his words.

"The foreman who died in the explosion. It was my fault. I got him killed when I tried to sabotage the machinery. Lord Death and Naman judged me when I confessed. They set out my sentence and I served three years in service to a race of Amazons. Lord Death brought me back to this point in time when my sentence was finished so no one would know. I am now eighteen years old physically."

"What nonsense are you speaking, Kyla?" Joseph asked, he was beginning to worry.

"Kyla, a demonstration." Amara said as she conjured a steel rod and handed it to the young woman.

"Thank you My Queen." She said with a bow as she took the rod, held it in front of her and bent it. It was not easy, but with the gifts of the Amazons it was possible.

She handed the rod to Joseph who nearly dropped it due to the unexpected weight.

"What trickery is this?!" Panic was setting in.

"Your daughter served her sentence well and with honour. She was accepted as an Amazon and granted their gifts of strength and longevity." Amara said with a hint of pride and a smile.

Kyla beamed and bowed low to her Queen.

"What have you done to my Granddaughter?" Joseph whispered as he fell to his knees in shock.

Harry stepped forward and placed a hand on Joseph's shoulder. "You may keep the knowledge this time, Joseph Willowbrook. But you will not be able to tell anyone. I trust that you will come to your senses soon."

Joseph shrugged off Harry's hand. "Come along Kyla. Maybe with time Naman will realise his true path."

"I'm staying Grandfather." Kyla said firmly.

Joseph looked at her with a frown. "Why?"

"I believe that Clark is Naman. I believe he is destined to protect the world. Not because of the prophecy but because of who he is. Clark Kent is not the type of person who needs someone to tell him to do the right thing. He doesn't need the Kawatche. The Kawatche don't need him. The Kawatche want to be a part of Naman's journey but… they haven't been invited yet."

Joseph narrowed his eyes at his Granddaughter. "Who told you this?" He asked curiously.

"My goddess, Aphrodite. Whilst I served my sentence with the Amazons she came and taught me about Clark and what the Kawatche need to do to be a part of Clark's destiny."

"Your goddess?"

"I am an Amazon now. She chose me and blessed me." Kyla smiled happily. "I am still Kawatche, but I am also Amazon."

Joseph nodded slowly. "Very well. I trust you can find your way home before curfew?"

Kyla hugged her grandfather and kissed his cheek at the subtle acceptance.

* * *

"Lutessa, it's good to see you after all these years?"

"The name is Tess. Go away Lionel, I have no interest in speaking to you." Tess scowled as she moved to close the door.

Lionel's hand stopped it. "I've come to give you your inheritance." He said temptingly.

"I don't want a damned thing from you, especially your money. I'll make my own. Now remove your hand or I'll call the cops."

"You heard her Mr. Luthor. You are on private property and I don't think the authorities will take it well when they learn you are on _my_ property."

Lionel turned to see Amara Aquila and Lorna Dane standing there. Aquila was a thorn in his side. This woman hindered everything he tried to do in Smallville.

"I was just talking to my daughter and I would thank you to stay out of this." Lionel said testily.

"You renounced any claim to family with me when you tossed me aside." Tess spat. "The phone is in my hand, should I start dialling?"

"Fine. I will leave. But I would hope you would come talk to me. There is much I regret in life and much I have to give you."

Lionel marched off to his waiting car as the three women watched him leave.

"Sorry we're late. We just got word he was heading this way." Lorna apologised to Tess.

"It's not your fault." Tess sighed as she opened the door for them. "Lex warned me he might try and approach me. I can't believe he tried to claim he had an inheritance for me."

"Actually it's not that he saved one for you, it's that you are entitled to a percentage of his company as his flesh and blood. He probably worries that Lex is looking to use you to gain control of his company. The two of you could take control of his company and oust him together." Amara explained.

"And all I have to do is play family with him." Tess said disgustedly.

"Actually, no. That's probably what he wants so he can keep an eye on you and influence you. But you can get the shares fairly easily with minimal contact in a legal setting."

"I really don't want them." Tess said adamantly.

"Of course not. But I recommend getting them and sitting on them. Just so no one else has them." Amara advised. "We can all agree that Lionel is as bad as they come and there may come a day when something needs to be done about him and his company."

Tess looked very disappointed at the thought of acknowledging any connection to Lionel. She was still wary about Lex.

"Let me think about it."

* * *

"Come on Clark, there's a good movie showing at the Talon. You're taking me."

"Kyla, I thought we discussed this." Clark sighed.

"You like me still, right?"

"Yes, of course."

"You are going to live forever?"

"Apparently."

"And there is a chance you might have to sentence other people to do time and then work with them the following day because of Harry's time travelling?"

"So I'm told."

"Then consider me your chance to get used to the idea by dating me. You know you will have fun." She said as she put her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his.

Clark pushed her back slightly, but not enough to remove her arms. "What about the fact that I might have multiple girlfriends? The Cuckoos are still all over me and I haven't gotten over Lana."

"I won't live forever Clark, but I am an Amazon. I will live for thousands of more years than the average mortal can. Even with Harry's help. We Amazons are essentially demi-gods. We have plenty of time to deal with your issues and other girls.

"Now, grab your coat and wallet and let's go." She said as she spun him around and pushed him towards the stairs to his room in the castle where he still stayed.

Clark defeatedly trudged off.

When he was out of earshot Kyla turned to another doorway and rolled her eyes. "You were right, how long would he have taken without the push?"

Lana stepped out with a slightly sad smile. She was sad that Clark was moving on, but happy for him as well. "We don't know. Neither of us has been patient enough to find out."

"And you're sure you are ok with this?" Kyla asked carefully.

"I wouldn't have told you to do it if I wasn't." Lana said as she took a firmer posture. "I'll be sad and jealous for a while but Clark doesn't need to suffer because I can't handle his new lifestyle."

There was a trio of giggles from another doorway as the Cuckoos stepped out. "_Clark_ can't handle his own lifestyle." Mindee told them. "He would have been perfectly happy with just you." She told Lana.

"Unfortunately it wouldn't have lasted the way he wanted." Phoebe continued. "Other girls would have found him and the pull would have been unbearable."

"I just wish I could have had that with him." Lana said sadly.

"No reason you can't." Celeste said as she walked up and hugged Lana. "If you truly love Clark then Harry can join your souls."

"It's a wonderful feeling." Mindee said dreamily.

"But one that you should wait to experience, when you are older. At least eighteen." Phoebe said seriously.

"I was only fifteen when the pull began." Kyla objected.

"Yes, but that was a natural soul bond. Lana will be making a conscious choice to bind her soul to Clark. The soul bond doesn't make you instantly like and agree with each other. You will still argue and fight. You will hate some of the things the other does but you will always love each other and be bound to each other." Phoebe explained.

"Has Harry done things you didn't like?" Lana asked Celeste as she noticed the sad look on the face of the girl who still had her arms around her.

"Not Harry. He does things we don't understand or approve of but he is usually working on a much higher set of rules. But the rest of us… sometimes we don't always do the right thing. We over step our bounds or the law and it hurts the others when they have to sentence the culprit like Clark did with you." Celeste said turning to Kyla with Lana still in her arms.

"None of us has done anything with evil intent." Phoebe explained further. "But we were constantly at war or having to defend ourselves from attack. This meant that when emotions ran high we acted irrationally."

"We would do things like Clark did in Africa when he was on Red Kryptonite." Mindee said.

"But I thought that wasn't Clark's fault?" Lana asked

"It wasn't, but when we did it we _allowed_ our emotions to control us. We lost control. The crime was done under a limited mental culpability but as individuals who are trained to control themselves… we have to take some responsibility."

"Ok, I'm-" Clark froze as he saw his date for the evening standing with the three girls who were constantly trying to seduce him and the one girl he had hoped _was_ his soul mate.

If that wasn't bad enough, all of them were smirking or grinning at him and Lana was in the arms of one of the Cuckoos.

He had a distinct urge to flee.

Kyla grinned and grabbed is hand. "Come on Lord Kal-El. You are taking you first soul mate and erm… one, two- fifth girlfriend on a date to the movies."

"Wait- what? Fifth?" Clark asked as he was dragged out the door.

"Come on, let's get dressed. We can go see a movie in Metropolis." Mindee said as she grabbed Phoebe and teleported away as Celeste did the same with Lana.

* * *

"Harry do you have any ties to that Japanese company, MBI?" Emma asked as she marched into the Doctor's Office the next day.

Harry looked up from where he was playing poker with Dani and Diana, the last of who was finally getting the hang of the game.

"No. They are a very insular company. They are aware of the rest of the world but they don't allow others into the company."

"You've never gone by the name Takehito Asama?"

"Nooo… why?" He asked suspiciously.

"I had a Japanese business man name Nutsuo Ichinomi and a large group of bodyguards demanding to see you." She was clearly annoyed. "They were demanding to see 'the man claiming to be Harry Potter who stole from MBI'."

"That sounds bad." Dani winced.

"Surely they are just mistaken." Diana offered.

"That's one possibility." Harry sighed unhappily. "The others involve corporate espionage, and time travel."

"What is corporate espionage?" Diana asked.

"Imagine if Lex stole something from Bruce Wayne's company. Like an idea. That would be corporate espionage." Dani explained.

"But Harry doesn't have a company so that rules it out for the most part." Emma said as she sat down heavily. "You realise this probably has something to do with that last soul bond."

Harry nodded. "Aphrodite did indicate time travel would be involved. The bond is frayed. It was broken and whoever is on the other end is going to be in a lot of pain." He said unhappily.

"Could you not go and save them now?" Diana asked.

"Not without risking a lot of chaos messing with time." Harry shook his head. "The most I can hope for is events to happen quickly so that I go back in time and start the cycle."

"Ok, but what about these MBI goons?" Dani asked.

"I hate to put more on her plate but I will have to ask Amara to look into it." Harry said unhappily.

"I will return home and take up her duties as she has trained me to. It is the least I can do for my Queen and Sister." Diana said firmly.

"And _that_ is why you will fit in so well with us." Dani grinned as she kissed the blushing princess on the cheek.

* * *

The next day at the Torch, Clark escaped being grilled by the Cuckoos, Lana and Chloe about his date with Kyla by several emails all from the same person all addressed to him.

"See, I was right Clark. Someone did know about the symbol." Chloe said smugly.

"Yes, but how did they know about me?" Clark asked worriedly. "I was there when you made the post. The only information you added was that it appeared on a barn in Smallville."

"Someone's been watching you." Lana whispered.

"Virgil Swann. That would be my guess, based on the email address." Chloe nodded. "He's a reclusive physicist. He used to own a company that maintained communications devices in space. But he sold it and donated the money to charities. Now he spends his time in New York searching space for signs of life."

"How do you know all this?" Lana asked clearly impressed.

"I'm a reporter. I wouldn't be much of one if I didn't keep up with the details of the worlds most influential people." She said primly.

"Are you going to see him?" Lana asked Clark.

"I'd prefer to know it was him first. But I'll ask Harry and Lex. They know a fair amount about the rich. Maybe Bruce knows something."

"I still can't believe you are on a first name basis with three of the worlds richest men." Chloe said exasperatedly.

"You're on a first name basis with two of them." Lana pointed out.

"Because they live here! Clark literally stumbled onto Bruce Wayne in Gotham and now he's friends with him!"

"You could meet him too. He comes to the castle now and again with Alfred." Mindee offered.

"He's a very nice man."

"And very dreamy." Celeste sighed.

There was a moment's silence before Clark grew too uncomfortable. "I'll go see Harry."

"Have you ever slept with any man other than Harry?" Lana asked suspiciously.

"Of course not!" Mindee said indignantly.

"Harry is the only one who can understand what we are not take advantage of us." Phoebe explained.

Celeste grinned impishly. "Doesn't mean we don't like to look."

* * *

"Clark, catch!"

Clark turned slightly in his seat in the castle living room to catch the object Lex threw at him as he walked in.

Clark glanced at the object and his eyes widened as he saw he held the key that he thought the cave wall had absorbed. "Where did you find this?"

"Lodged in the wall opposite the hole. Most people lose their keys down the back of the couch. But Clark Kent has a whole cave to lose it in." Lex joked.

"I will go and put this back in the safe." Brunhilde said as she stood and snatched the key from Clark.

"Is she mad at me?" Clark asked as the Valkyrie vanished.

"You? No." Laura smirked. "She's annoyed Odin gave you the language of the Kryptonians and then the wall decided to do the same thing but nothing extra. She feels it's a waste of time and energy. She's been spending a lot of time working on the ship."

"Could we work on the cave instead? Maybe she will get more answers?"

"That's the plan." Harry nodded. "After we speak to Swann."

"Virgil Swann?" Lex asked.

"That's the man."

"Now that is a man you would like." Lex nodded. "He's very much into helping others." He told Clark.

"Then why is he sending me cryptic messages?" Clark asked.

"Cryptic messages?"

"Chloe posted an image of the symbol on the barn and today I received multiple emails from with the same image but the translation underneath: Hope."

"Really? That's what you burnt into the barn?" Lex asked sceptically. "I thought you didn't have any control over yourself when you did that."

"I didn't. We're just lucky no one was standing in the way." Clark said still annoyed at the event.

"It just doesn't make sense that your 'father', who seems to want you to rule mankind, would have you carve the symbol for 'hope'. It seems out of character."

"He has a point." Jean agreed.

"I honestly never thought about _what_ I wrote, just that I was forced to write." Clark admitted.

"Sad to say I didn't think about it either." Harry mused. "Maybe I need a vacation."

"Well there is something we wanted to inform you of." Sif spoke up from between her husband and sister-in-law. "It's time for us to go back. To stay any longer would be insulting to the gods of this world."

"Won't you be able to come back?" Lana asked, she actually enjoyed watching Loki make Clark squirm like the Cuckoos.

"Of course. We just don't want to make it seem like we are here for anything other than a visit and a vacation." Loki explained.

"We were present and party to the defeat of this world's Thor. Were we to stay, the other gods might think we are planning to oust them." Thor said.

"I will be back soon enough. I find Clark very interesting and want to try and teach him the magic I use."

Clark blushed as he sought to ignore the flirtatious look the God of Mischief sent him. "I can use magic?"

"In a way. It will be weak but now Thor can travel between the worlds without the need for the Bifrost Bridge." Loki explained.

"Most of my magic use involves using my divine lightning to power runes. Those are as powerful as anything Uncle Harry can create." Thor explained.

"And just as painful." Harry shivered. "That lightning bolt you got me with the other day is nothing compared to some of the runes Thor has used."

"When will you leave?" Lana asked.

"On the weekend, we want to have you all over for a farewell dinner on Saturday first." Sif told the young girl.

"We're going to miss you guys." Dani pouted.

"We'll be back and you can always come visit. Now that we know about the time travel technique that Jean and Clark discovered we will try and bring the tech back here for you to use as well." Loki assured them.

"It would be nice not to have to miss out on weeks of events and play catch up." Harry agreed.

"I will also be sad to see you go. Thor was always one of my favourite gods in literature and it is nice to see that at least one of them is an honourable man." Lex smiled at the trio. "Unfortunately, I only came here to give a warning to Martha. Lionel has managed to buy out the other shareholders of LexCorp. I am very disappointed in them, after all we did to help them and they still betrayed us. Lionel probably thinks he can buy LexCorp out from under me, so be expecting a visit when he discovers our failsafe."

"What failsafe?" Lana asked.

Lex gave her a superior smirk. "I knew that most people could be intimidated or blackmailed and that my company was at risk because of this. So I made sure that a majority of the shares went to a trusted third party."

"Mrs. Kent." Lana nodded.

"No. _Clark_ Kent."

"What?!" Clark and Lana asked in shock.

Lex laughed. "The shares are in your name. Your mother holds control of them until you come of age. But I had always wanted you to be a part of my company and this seemed like a good way. Tess also has shares available to her but you actually hold the controlling interest."

"That's insane!" Clark argued.

"Clark, do you plan to oust me as the CEO? Send the company into a tailspin and destroy everything I worked for?"

"No!"

"Will you sell your shares to someone else and put the company at risk that way?"

"Of course not… I might sell or sign control to Amara or Harry but no one else." Clark admitted.

"Then I made a good call. A risk that paid off."

"This is insane." Clark muttered to himself.

"And yet I already feel better for having done it." Lex smirked as he patted Clark's shoulder and headed out.

"How do you think he'll react when he hears he's already a millionaire with those shares?" Dani stage whispered to Martha.

It would have been more effective if she hadn't been sitting across the room.

* * *

"I've waited a long time to meet you… Kal-El."

Clark frowned at the sight of the paralysed Dr. Virgil Swann. "My name is Clark Kent."

Swann looked on in amusement as he watched Harry roll his eyes.

"Really, you want to open with denial?" Harry asked.

"Joseph Willowbrook." Clark said with a glare.

Harry grimaced. "Yeah… ok. I'll give you that one."

"Sam Phelan."

"Alright, fine I get the-"

"Roger Nixon."

"Jeeze, enough already! I give! I give! You have a bad history with people trying to exploit you when they find out you're a bona fide alien." Harry said as he threw his hands up in defeat.

"However for the record, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Scott Summers, Harry Potter, Lorna Dane, Lana Lang, Emma Frost, Jean Summers-"

"I'm not saying there aren't good people out there Harry. I'm just saying a little caution would be nice." Clark stopped him.

"Have you ever known me to be cautious?" Harry grinned.

"No, but I've seen what Brunhilde does to you when you try to corrupt what she teaches me."

"Low blow!" Harry said with mock hurt.

"Gentlemen, as amusing as the pair of you are, I believe we might have things to discuss." Swann said with chuckle. "And let me assure you Clark, I have no designs on you or plans to reveal your secrets. I only wished to ensure you were ok and pass on the message I received."

"Message?" Harry asked.

"Thirteen years ago my satellites picked up the following message." Swann activated a large monitor nearby. "This message was encoded, I managed to decrypt and translate it."

The image changed to what Clark recognised as Kryptonian.

"That really conflicts with what dear old dad was saying." Harry mused.

Clark looked surprised. "You can read that?"

"Sure. You'd be surprised what I can do." Harry smirked.

"I'm sorry, what do you mean? You have spoken with Clark's father? Are you a Kryptonian too?" Swann asked.

"No, I'm something else. Clark's ship had an A.I. it was rather intent on Clark ruling the world."

Swann frowned. "I see. I would submit that a person who makes a request to deliver their son from evil is far more likely to be the true person than the one who claims they should seek to conquer."

"Why?" Clark asked.

Swann frowned. "Those that conquer are not afraid to lie. Those that wish to protect only lie in the direst of circumstances."

"True, but what if they wanted you to look after me until I could access my ship and then conquer you?"

"A Trojan Horse." Harry mused.

"Does it really matter at this point?" Swann asked. "Pick your own destiny Clark. Choose what you believe is right for you."

"I like him." Harry said to Clark with a smile.

"You would. You like everyone."

"That's not true and you know it."

"You may not like what or who they are but you enjoy meeting them and dealing with them… even if it is permanently." Clark snorted.

"Again, gentlemen, as much as I would love to learn more about what you are talking about, perhaps we could focus?" Swann hadn't smiled this much in a long time.

"You have more?" Harry asked.

"I traced the signal back to its origin." Swann informed them, the screen changed to show a map of the stars. "But as you can see, there was nothing there."

"Yeah, kind of sucky really. All the things Clark wants to know destroyed and all he's left with his cryptic messages." Harry said. "So, how would you like to go and see what _is_ left?" Harry asked Swann with a smile.

"I would give nearly anything to do that. But we don't have the capabilities to send even an automated probe that far. It is 27.1 light years away. We wouldn't reach it for thousands of years with our sub-light speed capabilities."

"What if you could make the trip in a year or so?" Harry asked.

"You have developed faster-than-light travel?" Swann asked his eyes wide.

"I am going to show you a whole new world Virgil Swann." Harry smiled as he placed a hand on Swann's shoulder.


	28. Chapter 28

Clark had found it amusing that the calm and collected Dr. Swann that had greeted them turned into a babbling and excited six year-old when he got his body back and learnt of all that he would be doing. They had brought him back to the castle where they informed him he would have to remain in his chair whilst they made it seem he was undergoing experimental treatment. In six months or so they would be able to have him ready.

He was absolutely honoured to meet Thor and Loki, real live gods, but what clearly meant more to him was meeting Jonathan and Martha Kent, the loving couple that had rescued Kal-El.

Harry discussed the current situation with Clark and they came to an agreement that they would try to avoid letting Clark near the cave until Swann had made his trip to Krypton. Harry had always planned to go to Krypton to see if anything could be salvaged but he had no clue where it was. Virgil Swann had answered that question.

Things moved along with Thor, Sif and Loki returning to their own time and world. Harry had an unusual case of a transfer student named Cyrus Krupp. Harry had all new students report to him for check ups so that he could catch the problems early.

Cyrus made claims that he was an alien; he was frequently in mental health care because of these claims. Harry could see the lad was human but he was severely meteor infected. Harry talked with him and managed to explain to Cyrus the truth, it had required him to reveal the presence of Clark as an alien but once Clark heard the story he was fine with helping.

Virgil Swann took Cyrus on as an apprentice when Harry and Clark revealed the exceptional work in engineering that Cyrus had done. He joined Brunhilde, Laura, and Virgil in creating the ship that would take Virgil to Krypton. Virgil had opted to take Cyrus in as his adopted child and pulled him from the school as he was much more suited to classes with Ryan and Lorna.

Virgil also gave them the details of the Veritas group. The group didn't know anything of any real importance other than some legends. It just meant they had more reason to avoid Lionel.

The case against Lionel was thrown out when the guards all turned up dead. The press had a field day with theories of assassination plots by Luthor.

Luthor had been annoyed by this and decided to try and gain a hold on the Daily Planet who was the leader in proposing these theories. Especially as they seemed to have come exceptionally close to the truth.

Pauline Khan, the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet had no expression on her face as Lionel Luthor stormed into her office.

"What can I do for you today Mr. Luthor? Should I begin with pressing charges for trespassing?" She asked calmly.

"I want to know where you find the gall to print those lies about me." He said angrily.

"Lies? Nothing I print is a lie or does not have at least some evidence to back it up." She had learnt how to deal with ego-driven tyrants long ago.

"What evidence? If you have evidence then I demand to see it." This was one of the tactics Lionel had planned to use, but it was not his ultimate trump card.

"Our sources are confidential Mr. Luthor. You should know this. Now if the authorities wanted to use the evidence we would encourage our sources to come forward, but we would not force or reveal them without their permission."

"And you think you can stand against a lawsuit from the entirety of LuthorCorp?" Lionel scoffed.

"We've faced worse than your little Mom and Pop operation, Mr. Luthor. We've been around for nearly two hundred and thirty years ever since George Washington himself wrote the editorial for our very first issue." She said smugly. "We are an institution of America and America loves us."

"All things come to an end Miss Khan. It just takes the right person."

"And I highly doubt that person is you."

"Very well Miss Khan, I will buy your precocious little newsletter and have you removed."

Pauline just laughed. "You will find that very difficult, Lionel. The current owners have full control and aren't likely to bow to the whims of someone like you."

"We shall see." Lionel sneered as he stormed out of the office.

Pauline calmly picked up the phone, dialled and waited.

"It's Pauline. I just thought you might like to know that Lionel was here demanding information about our sources and that we stop telling 'lies'."

"…"

"Well he was posturing but we both knew that. He threatened to buy the paper and have me fired."

"…"

"I really wish I could be there when he finds out you own it." She laughed.

"…"

"Oh I fully intend to write the story myself. I must thank you for extra security you put in my office. Having a copy of the meeting will be very useful when I arrange to go on the national news later this week."

"…"

"I'm a reporter. 'Cutthroat' is my middle name. Now if you will excuse me I want to watch Lionel get arrested for trespassing as he tries to leave the building."

"…"

"I promise to send you a copy of the security cameras!" She laughed. "I'll talk to you later Harry. I _don't _want to miss this."

* * *

The following day saw Lionel Luthor's image splayed over the front page of the Daily Planet as he was cuffed and manhandled into a police car. Pauline Khan sat on various news shows and even offered footage of the attempted intimidation by Lionel.

Harry had ordered extra security for Pauline as he completely ignored her protests. The woman had worked in the Gulf War and was no stranger to death and danger. Harry also put a monitoring charm on her in case the unthinkable should happen.

Inquiries came about the new owners of The Planet but they were firmly rebuffed, only Pauline actually knew whom they were and the contracts were filed in such a way that someone would lose their job and their freedom if they were released.

In the midst of all this national news a very nasty incident occurred in Smallville.

Scott was shutting down his office in the back of the Talon as he prepared to drive himself and Lana home. He heard Lana's cries for help and rushed into the shop only to find Lana being manhandled by three drunken men. The Lilly Charm protected Lana but it didn't stop them from trying.

He ploughed into the nearest men sending him crashing into a nearby chair before he turned on the other two. They looked eager for a fight. They charged him as one and Scott twisted to the left and around the one on that side using the momentum to throw him back the way he came and through the store window with a crash.

Scott turned to face the last man who was picking himself up off the floor having skidded there when Scott evaded them.

"You'll pay for that old man." He said angrily.

"Stand down. Don't make me hurt you." Scott warned.

"As if." The man scoffed as he charged.

Scott allowed the man to plough into him and fell backwards to the ground planting both legs the attackers gut and propelling the man over him and out the window.

He landed with the sound of breaking glass.

Scott kipped to his feet and looked to Lana. "Are you ok?"

She gave a scared yet frantic nod.

"Go and lock yourself in my office. Now!" He snapped when she hesitated.

Scott marched outside dragging the one man who had crashed into the chair at the beginning of the fight with him.

Outside he found himself under a bright spotlight.

"Hold it right there Mister." Came a harsh female voice.

"Identify yourself." Scott ordered.

"I'll ask the questions."

"Identify yourself or I treat you as hostile." Scott warned.

"I'm the Sheriff, and I don't take threats lightly. Now release the boy and put your hands up."

"Good, I don't have to call you then. You can arrest these three for assaulting my Assistant Manager." Scott said angrily as he tossed the man he held towards the light. "Now get that light out of my eyes!"

"I said put your hands up!"

Scott growled quietly but complied.

"I have a young girl hiding in my office. I need to let her know its safe to come out." Scott said.

"You usually keep young girls in your office sir?" The newly announced Sheriff asked as she proceeded to cuff Scott.

"She's the Assistant Manager and I told her to hide in the office whilst I dealt with the attackers. And I don't like your insinuations."

"Cry me a river." She said sarcastically.

"No, he'll just file a lawsuit."

Both turned around to see Clark, Dani and Amara standing there with Jean.

"Can I ask why you are arresting Coach Summers?" Amara asked.

"Clark, Lana's in my office, go check on her." Scott instructed.

"Hold it right there _Clark_, I'll give the orders around here."

"You have a problem with Clark rendering aid to a female in distress?" Amara asked.

"I have a problem with people ignoring my authority. I have a problem with a man who thinks he can smack around three boys and think he can get away with it."

"Then you really don't have a problem tonight, do you." Dani said with a cheeky smile. "Go on Clark. You too Jean."

Jean ignored the calls of the Sheriff as Jean grabbed Clark and marched him into the Talon.

"Now, what evidence do you have that Coach Summers attacked these boys?" Amara asked.

"I saw him throw one of them out the window, he landed on my cruiser! He then dragged the other one out like a sack of potatoes, you his lawyer or just his girlfriend?"

"Lawyer." Amara said calmly. "Scott, you have anything to say in your defence?"

A slow smile crept onto Scott's face as he looked over his shoulder at the Sheriff who still had a hold on his cuffed hands. "Security tapes."

* * *

The students of Smallville High crept around on eggshells the following day. News of what had happened the previous night had reached their ears and it was obvious that Principal Frost was livid.

Due to the Sheriff's bullheadedness she had been forced to suspend her husband from his job pending the conclusion of the investigation. Brunhilde had offered to fill in but Emma had other ideas. She wanted people to see just how powerful their family was.

Clark jogged onto the running track with the rest of his class for his gym lesson. They all thought Coach Kinney would be taking over for now. Many of the boys were looking forward to it.

What they found was a tall slim built man with dark hair and eyes and a wry smile.

Clark's eyes shot to his hairline.

"My name is Bruce Wayne. Many of you know of me and probably own something with my name on it. My good friend Principal Frost has asked me to handle Coach Summer's classes for the next day or so until he gets back. You will refer to me as Coach Wayne. AM I CLEAR?!" Bruce roared.

"SIR! YES SIR!" Clark shouted as he snapped to attention.

"At least one of you seems to be awake." Bruce said unhappily.

Clark grimaced as many of his classmates snickered at him. Amongst them were his five female friends.

"You think a lack of respect and attention is funny?" Bruce demanded. "Start running, now!" Bruce blew his whistle. "Clark, with me." Bruce ordered as he began leading the class on the jog.

Clark frowned as he sprinted up next to Bruce before matching his pace.

"You're really just doing this as a favour?" Clark asked.

"You ever tried to say 'no' to Emma Frost?" He asked with a smirk as they kept jogging.

"You think that's bad, wait till you have to say no to Dani or the Triplets."

The jogging went on for about five minutes before the first students began dropping. The final students to drop managed twenty minutes whilst Bruce and Clark where hardly sweating. Well, Clark wasn't sweating but that was expected.

"Is that Lex and Tess?" Clark asked Bruce as they jogged back to where the rest of the class was attempting to not die from exhaustion.

"I asked them to help." Bruce confirmed as they pulled up in front of the class. He gave the siblings a nod before addressing the class.

"You are a sorry lot." He said disappointedly. "You are young, you should have the stamina to run for twenty minutes minimum!"

There were a few groans from the nearly passed out class.

"On your feet!" Bruce snapped.

Tiredly the class climbed to their feet, using each other as climbing aids.

"Now, in light of _why_ Coach Summers is not able to be here today he has asked me to take Coach Kinney's lessons with the girls on self-defence a step further.

"Miss Lang, front and centre!"

Nervously, Lana stepped forward. "Yes, sir?"

"You have been trained to defend yourself, yes?"

"Yes sir."

"I saw the security tapes, you froze. Why?"

Lana was highly embarrassed and couldn't believe Scott wanted Bruce Wayne to do this.

"Come on Miss Lang. Next time the Coach might not be there to rescue you. Wouldn't you prefer to be able to save yourself next time?"

Lana straightened up. She _did_ want to be able to fend for herself. She had sensed that Laura had been a bit disappointed in her performance under fire. "I was afraid." She said firmly.

"Yes, you were." Bruce said. "All of you have been training in controlled conditions where there was no risk of pain or failure. Today, with the help of Mr. Lex Luthor, or Coach Luthor and his sister Miss Tess Mercer, also Coach Mercer, we will teach you to perform when there is danger.

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the Shocknife."

The student's eyes widened with fear as Bruce smiled and raised a rubber looking knife… that crackled with blue electricity.

* * *

"Is that maniac still here?" Chloe demanded as she stomped into the Torch office.

"Harry?" Clark asked.

"No, Bruce Wayne! That knife hurt!"

"That was the point Chloe." Phoebe laughed. "Without the threat you won't be able to respond in real life. Even with what you experienced today it will still be overwhelming when faced with real danger where the knife isn't a threat."

"Right Lana?" Mindee encouraged the girl to confirm.

"Yes, very right. I might have fought back eventually but not before they got a hit in. I don't think it was actually fear that stopped me… I think I was in shock."

"It can happen." Phoebe nodded. "The trick is making your response a reflex action instead of a conscious thought."

"How do you do that?"

"Practice. Have someone like Lex, Harry, Bruce or Scott randomly attack you until your immediate response is to have them disabled before you are actually aware you've been attacked."

"Why them?" Clark asked.

"Because for a hot girl like Lana, a man is more likely to be an attacker. If all she felt were a pair of breasts pressed in her back when the practice attacks happened she might freeze when the muscular chest of a man is behind her in a real fight. It makes a difference." Mindee assured them.

"Considering the nutcases in this school, defence from girls wouldn't hurt." Chloe argued mildly. "Tina, Chrissy, Felice."

"Felice never attacked us." Lana frowned.

"Give it time, Lana. Give it time." She said with faux seriousness.

* * *

That evening Harry took the opportunity of having Bruce in town to have Lex, Helen, Tess, Lana, Chloe and Kyla over to the castle.

"Guys, I have a bad feeling that at sometime in the very near future I will be taking a trip through time. It may not be voluntary."

"I'm sorry, did you say you would be time travelling?" Tess asked trying to figure how she had misheard.

"I did. One of the reasons you are here is to learn my secrets and the secrets that Lex knows." Harry said seriously. "We will explain these in detail in a bit, but first I need to explain why I have you here.

"I was planning on waiting for the summer but I am going to make you all magicals now."

"Including myself and Lex?" Bruce asked with a frown.

"Yes. I will put some protections on you so you can't unwittingly use them in public yet but beyond that you will be as free as Alfred."

"And now you're talking about magic." Tess commented warily.

Lex ignored his sister to ask an important question. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this. I still have to resist the urge to strangle my father every time I see him. And not in the wishful thinking manner."

"Yes, but you do resist. You will still have everyone here to lean on if I do vanish but I want you to have the protection."

"I don't understand." Chloe frowned. "I thought you could return to this time to within a few days."

"Under ideal conditions I can. But I prefer never to assume."

"Can we get back to the part about magic and time travel?" Tess demanded a little irritably.

"I could use some clarification as well." Helen nodded. "That or a possible psych consult." She muttered under her breath.

"Wait, Princess Diana should be here for this." Kyla spoke up.

"Quite right." Amara agreed as she vanished on the spot causing Helen and Tess to go wide eyed.

"Like the man said: Magic." Lex smirked.

* * *

The next evening Tess responded to a knock on the front door to find Lex standing there with a suitcase.

"Any chance I can crash in the guest room for a day or so?" He asked hopefully.

"What happened to the mansion?" She asked as she stood aside for him to enter.

"Do you remember the discussion about Lucas? Our half-brother?" Lex asked as he slumped into an armchair.

"You said he wasn't the best sort of person and we should just watch him for now and make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

"Right. Only dear old dad brought him to Smallville and gave him his inheritance. He then disinherited me and kicked me out of the mansion."

"What about all your stuff?" She asked shocked that Lionel would be able to pull this. She didn't doubt his willingness one bit.

"I'll pick it up later. For now I burnt my hard drives so they can't be hacked. The real problem is that I am technically homeless."

"Well you can stay here… what about Helen?" She asked as she remembered the brunette was due to move in with Lex that weekend.

"I told her I'd be here. Her apartment isn't big enough for us both. Don't worry though, once I find a decent place to stay I'll be out of your hair."

"I can't believe that jerk!" Tess said angrily as she began to pace. "He seems to think he can just throw his kids away and then pick them up when he has a use for them."

"Tess, calm down."

"Calm down? Why the hell should I? First me, then Lucas now you! God knows how many other kids he has out there!"

"Tess… you _really_ need to calm down."

"Whoa there girlie!" Came Dani's voice as she teleported in.

"Dani, why are you here?" Tess asked.

"Because you are putting out enough magic that you started to warp the house." She said firmly. "Now are you going to calm down or do I need to hit you with a calming charm?"

Tess blushed and took a few deep-cleansing breaths. "Sorry about that." She said, slightly ashamed.

"Now, what did Lex do to piss you off so badly?"

"Now why would you assume this was my fault?" Lex asked defensively.

"Because she's a woman and you're man. It's a natural conclusion." She said dismissively causing Tess to laugh.

"No, it's not what Lex did, it's what Lionel did to him." Tess assured Dani. "The bastard disinherited him so he could bring in Lucas Dunleavy."

"Oh… in that case, you warping the house is understandable." Dani nodded.

Lex rolled his eyes as he realised he was not going to get an apology about being blamed unduly.

* * *

After a pow-pow at the castle they came up with a plan to deal Lionel another blow. Tess was on a warpath and Lex was hesitant to get in her way, especially with the amount of magic she put out when pissed. He was sure Harry had accidentally boosted her magic more than the others.

The following day the Daily Planet ran the story of Lex being disinherited in favour of the previously abandoned son Lucas. Lex had legally changed his name to Lex Matheson, his mother's maiden name. The surviving members of the Matheson family had welcomed the move claiming they blamed Lionel for driving his mother to depression.

The day after that they ran the article that would cause Lionel the most amount of problems. They revealed the existence of Tess as Lionel's illegitimate daughter. The key question that the paper asked was 'How many more bastards did Lionel sire?"

Tess spent the day with Lex going on the major news shows and giving interviews. She was already a known name after surviving the pirates with Oliver Queen.

By the third day Amara had Scott back at the school when she took the case to the judge and showed him the security tapes. The judge had charged the three men with assault on a minor and then gone straight to the Mayor and demanded Scott be given an award for defending Miss Lang.

The Sheriff was not happy.

* * *

"Here, start reading this." Harry instructed as he threw a book to Clark.

Clark picked up the book and looked at the title. "You want me to learn Japanese?"

"Those MBI guys were back again. Eventually we will have to deal with this and I figure it will be a good chance for you to learn about a new culture." Harry explained.

"Did they try and come to the school again?"

"No, the Smallville Medical Centre." Harry laughed. "They almost got themselves lynched when they demanded they hand me over. Somehow they have diplomatic credentials so the Sheriff couldn't touch them."

"Why haven't they come here?"

"No idea, probably next on their list."

"Harry, Clark, you need to turn on the news." Lorna said as she rushed in.

"What channel?" Clark asked.

"_Every_ channel."

Harry picked up the remote and the news was already showing. There were scenes of a helicopter stalling in mid-air and about to crash into a group of well dressed partygoers. But then a green construct caught the helicopter surrounding it in a green F1 chassis and bleeding off the moment by running it through a green twisting ramp. There were a few hairy moments where the ramp vanished and a flying man dressed in green and black had to deal with falling debris but eventually the helicopter came to a stop.

"Looks like we need to make another trip Clark." Harry smiled. "Another super-powered human has emerged."

* * *

"Who's in charge here?"

"For the moment, I am, Mr. Dunleavy." Lana said firmly as she looked at the man on the other side of the counter.

Scott had stepped out to make get some supplies, it was early evening and the place was full so there was no chance of Lana being caught alone.

"That's Luthor girl. Now I need to speak to an adult." He said condescendingly.

"I believe your father is at home. Maybe he can help." Lana offered. She noticed June, the barista manning the counter start snickering.

"I'm closing this place down. Considered yourself fired."

"You can't close this place down, you don't own it." Lana said as she rolled her eyes.

"Everything that belonged to Lex now belongs to me. Including this little money pit." He smirked.

"I doubt that, but Lex warned me that you might try and pull a stunt like this so, we accept your instructions." Lana pulled out a dollar from her back pocket. "Here, this is the agreed upon fee."

"What are you talking about?"

"You did _read_ the contract, right?" Lana smiled. "'In the event that the owner of the coffee shop decides to relinquish control then Lana Lang can buy the shop for the price of one dollar.'"

"I'm not playing games girl."

"Actually, you are." Scott said as he stood behind the young Luthor causing him to jump. "You just forgot to read the rule book."

"I own this coffee shop and I can do what I want with it." Lucas stated, though he was very intimidated by the tall brown haired man in front of him.

"You own the right to run the coffee shop. Mr. Potter owns the building and merely leases the space to Lex Luthor." Scott informed him.

"Fine then I'll shut down the coffee shop and put it to better use."

"No, the contract only allows Lex to run the coffee shop. Beyond that his only choice is to relinquish all ties to the place."

"Fine, then I'll keep the shop, the both of you are fired though."

"Actually, I am equal owner of the shop." Lana told him. "All firing and hiring decisions are mine as per the contract that was signed."

"I guess I'll see you in court then."

"Actually, there is a clause that if at anytime Lex has a problem with the coffee shop then he has no legal recourse unless he can prove that criminal activity or negligence is taking place." Scott smirked. "Now, you're wasting my Assistant Manager's valuable time Mr. Dunleavy-"

"Luthor!"

"Please see the baristas or waitresses if you wish to place an order." Scott said with a stern look.

"Actually, I would ask that we use our right to refuse service and ask Mr. Dunleavy-"

"LUTHOR!"

"To leave and not return."

"Congratulations Mr. Dunleavy, you have managed to piss off my very easy going Assistant Manager, please exit the building and do not return. If we require your input then we will contact you via mail courier." Scott said as he indicated the door.

"You can't kick me out! I own this place!" Lucas laughed.

"Again, no. You own the right to run a coffee shop." Lana repeated with a sigh.

"June, would you call the Sheriff please, I believe Mr. Dunleavy-"

"_LUCAS!_" He screamed seemingly becoming unhinged enough to forget what he was saying.

"Really, very well. I believe Mr. Lucas is becoming a problem."

"I'm already here, Mr. Summers." Came the annoying voice of the Sheriff. "I got a call from a patron that someone was causing a scene in the Talon. I'm glad to see you decided not to indulge in violence." She said condescendingly.

Scott just smiled at her. "I saw no need. He is becoming rather loud and agitated but not physical. If that happened then I would have intervened if Miss Lang appeared to need my aid. Incidentally, did you hear that those three assailants were given the additional charge of perjury and fraud? The judge didn't appreciate them trying to fake injuries."

The Sheriff scowled. The incident from that night was still a sore spot for her. Summers and his friends seemed to have the whole town in their pockets. She hated that because it usually meant they were using the town for something nefarious. What she really wanted was to get a warrant to search the castle, she was sure she would find something like drugs, prostitution or gun running. Unfortunately she had no proof and no basis for a warrant.

"Come on Mr. Lucas, you've been asked to leave."

"It's Luthor and you can't kick me out, I own the place."

"You'll have to take it up with your lawyers, sir. For now, they have the right of things as you are causing a scene and making a nuisance." She said as she grabbed his upper arm firmly and guided him out.

As the door closed behind the Sheriff and Lucas, Scott smiled at the patrons. "Special thanks to whoever called the Sheriff and free coffee for the next hour for everyone."

"Your welcome." Scott and Lana were shocked when at least a third of the patrons called out.

* * *

"This is his apartment." Harry said as he and Clark stood outside the address Laura had given them.

"I'm surprised the government isn't here already, if you can find him then why can't they?"

"They will, but our computers are substantially faster. It's why Virgil needs to learn a new system as he helps build the new ship."

"So what do we do?"

"Remember Bruce?" Harry asked with a grin.

Clark groaned. "Can't we just knock on the door?"

"Fine. I like my way better. People tend to be a bit more accepting when they see you phase through things." Harry grumped.

"One day someone is going to see you and think you're attacking. Then what?" Clark challenged as he headed into the building's lobby.

"I'm usually phased so it doesn't matter."

"This guy uses what looks like energy based constructs, you said that some types of energy can affect your phased state."

"Look, if your going to start being all logical about this then I'm not going to argue with you anymore!" Harry declared as he floated up and phased through the ceiling with an indignant sniff.

"I swear I'm the adult sometimes." Clark muttered before he super-sped his way to the right floor beating Harry by two seconds.

Not giving Harry a chance to do something that would require a clean up he knocked on the door.

"You are absolutely no fun." Harry said.

"We could go outside so I can zap you with a lightning bolt?"

The door opening stopped Harry's retort and a man resembling the being from the news report greeted them.

"Hal Jordan? We wanted to come and talk to you about your little adventure the other night." Harry smiled genially at the man.

"What adventure?" Hal asked suspiciously.

"The one where you created green constructs and flew." Clark said simply.

"That wasn't me."

"Yes, it was. You've been altered in someway. Alien technology by the looks of things." Harry mused as he examined Hal closely.

"Aliens?" Hal laughed. "What are you? Some sort of-"

Hal trailed off as he saw Clark begin to hover a foot off the ground.

"Would you mind if we came in, Mr. Jordan? A bit of privacy would be best." Clark suggested.

Harry was quite pleased that Clark was taking the lead. He still came across as insecure and naive at times but he really shined when necessary.

"Get in here." Hal frowned as he stepped aside.

Inside Clark and Harry saw two other people. One was the woman Hal had saved on the news but the other was unknown.

"Clark Kent, Harry Potter." Harry said as he held out his hand to woman.

"Carol Ferris."

"Tom Kalmaku."

"Great, we all know each other's names. Would someone mind telling me if anyone else out there knows about me? The mask was supposed to protect my identity!" Hal said fairly agitatedly.

"I can fix that." Harry said calmingly. "You trust these two with the knowledge of who you are?"

"Sure, they know the score."

"Do you have a title? A code name when you do your thing?"

"Green Lantern."

"Really?"

"I didn't pick it!"

"Fine, just make sure that if you want someone to know who you are then state that you, Hal Jordan are the Green Lantern."

"Really… just like that?"

"I'm an alien and he's the Master of Magic. Yes magic is real." Clark rattled off.

"Magic?" Carol asked sceptically.

"Why do they always accept the alien stuff but have trouble with magic?" Harry complained to Clark.

"I don't think it's the magic they have trouble with." Clark said dryly.

"Look, I'd love to stay and share but I have to leave. There is something really bad coming and if I can't get my bosses to send reinforcements then we are going to be the last thing standing between the Earth and its destruction." Hal said.

"You really need to learn to relax Hal." Harry said firmly. "I've been dealing with this type of thing for a long time, all you are going to do is turn yourself grey."

"Really? I haven't heard of any invaders from space recently." Hal said sarcastically.

"Erm… hi?" Clark said as he rose off the floor again.

"Whoa… you can fly too?" Tom said with awe and excitement.

"Among other things." Clark smiled.

"Ok, who are your bosses?" Harry asked.

"The Guardians, they created the Green Lantern Corps."

"Guardians? I wonder if those are the ones Jor-El thought of sending you to." Harry commented to Clark. "Ok, how long do we have till this invader arrives and what can you tell me about it?"

"Days at the most. It feeds on fear and that is _all_ I know. I'm hoping the Guardians know more."

"Ok, lead the way." Harry said as he moved to the window.

"Don't you need a spaceship?"

"Do you?"

"Do I?" Clark asked.

"You can survive extremes and hold your breath indefinitely. You don't need a ship."

"What about communication?" Clark asked.

"We'll work on it later, for now we just follow Hal."

* * *

"Well I'll be..." Harry muttered as he stood with Clark, Hal and some other alien Lantern called Sinestro on a high altitude plateau. Spaced evenly around the edge where rocky spikes that rose up some thirty feet and at the top were very short little blue people that reminded Harry of goblins… goblins with large craniums, but still goblins.

"Such a shame Dani isn't here to finish that." Clark sighed.

"They're gods." Harry said louder. "You little guys are millions of years old, quite impressive as even Odin isn't that old. You're older than Earth; hell you're actually older than _me_! Do you _know_ how long it's been since I met someone older than me?" Harry asked with a wide and excited smile.

"Just who are you?" Sinestro asked with a sneer. The last thing he needed was more pitiful humans meddling with his beloved Corp.

"Death."

"I thought you said he was the Master of Magic." Hal whispered to Clark.

"He is, but he is also Death. The embodiment of death. He actually outranks all the gods and is considered the highest ranked being in known existence."

"You claim to be the Aspect?" One of the Guardians enquired sceptically.

"I am Death." Harry stated simply. "It's not entirely pertinent to what we need to discuss, it just means that I am probably going to kill the bastard who is trying to kill Earth."

"If you truly are Death, then you are possibly the only one who can." Another Guardian said sadly. "Parallax was once one of us.

"Will is not the only force that can be concentrated and controlled. Fear was also an option and he wanted to take control of that force and create an even more powerful power. Unfortunately, it consumed him and made him what he is today."

"Then we will fight fire with fire!" Sinestro declared. "Re-Forge the Ring of Fear and we will use it to defeat this monster."

"Well that sounds like a bad idea." Hal spoke up.

"And one I forbid." Harry said seriously. "Fear needs to be eradicated, not cultivated. I only use fear and intimidation as a distraction technique, never as a weapon. If you have the power and means to control fear I suggest you let me destroy it or lock it away. I can guarantee that it will only lead to chaos in the universe."

"As you said, we are far older than you. We have more experience than you." One of the Guardians pointed out, but not in an aggressive manner.

"No, you are older, but I have experience spanning multiple realities and dealing with similar enemies." Harry corrected. "I also have far more experience with other gods and various Aspects. You probably realise this already though. For now I will need your aid in defending Earth whilst I deal with Parallax."

"We cannot spare our forces, we must secure a better weapon or strategy. I will not waste my men on some backwater planet full of barbarians!" Sinestro said passionately.

"That's my home young man." Harry said as he stalked up to Sinestro. "If I have to go face this alone then the other pantheons will look on it as negligence on the part of the Guardians. They will seek retribution."

"We are the Lanterns-"

"Peace Sinestro." One of the Guardians said calmly. "He is right. If he is truly Lord Death then we are bound by ancient laws to aid him as he sees fit."

"I have a question." Clark said nervously. "How is it that you don't instinctively know that Harry is Death? The gods of Earth actually came and greeted him when he arrived."

"The gods you speak of likely reside in another realm that allows them to view this realm in a unique manner. We are bound to this realm and although we have great power we are limited in how we see this realm." The Guardian explained.

"The Hulk is the same." Harry added. "He, like the Guardians were born in this realm, the realm they serve. Odin, Zeus and the others were born in another realm."

"Oh… thank you for the answer." Clark nodded to the Guardian respectfully.

"It is good to finally have a Kryptonian amongst us again." The Guardian said with a small smile.

"This all very nice and educational but there is a great big… space monster about to eat Earth." Hal piped up.

* * *

Sinestro had scoffed when the being calling himself Death had ordered him to gather his beloved Corp so he could address them and then lead them to battle. The Guardians had ordered him to follow Death's orders like their own though.

Sinestro was confused when Death told them that only he and Hal Jordan would face Parallax, the rest would use their rings to produce a barrier that would keep Parallax beyond orbit. The boy, Kal-El, another supposed god had vanished in the blink of an eye when Death had waved his hand. Sent back with orders to rally his family.

Sinestro truly became a believer when Death raised his hands and every Lantern present - the thousands that there were - found themselves in orbit over Earth.

Not even the Guardians could pull off a mass teleportation without technology. They didn't have teleportation tech full stop!

Sinestro, after he had pulled himself together, began ordering his men into position. They may not be facing Parallax but they would demonstrate that what the Corp stood for as they formed the wall of protection.

* * *

When Harry teleported Clark back to Earth he had sent him to Carol Ferris so that she could be aware of what Hal was up to. Harry also wanted her moved to the castle as Hal had told him that a childhood friend, Hector Hammond, had been infected by Parallax and might attack her to get to him.

Hal was right.

It had been a simple matter for Clark to grab Carol and knock out Hector. But Clark had to make two trips back to the castle so he could put Hector in the dungeons first.

He then grabbed Carol who was highly confused and hightailed it back to the castle where he asked Lorna to call the family in for an emergency.

"This is Carol, Harry wanted her protected, so I brought her here." Clark told the dimensional travellers without hesitating. "Right now a being that feeds on fear is approaching Earth. Harry asked for you to teleport to him in space and assist."

"Ah, time to break out the Patronus." Emma nodded.

"I've called Lex, he's going to- Never mind." Lorna stopped as the aforementioned Lex teleported in.

Clark turned to Lex. "Lex that's Carol, she knows everything and can fill you in on the Green Lantern, the rest of us have to go save the world."

"Again." Dani sighed.

"Again?" Carol asked slightly horrified.

"Long story, tell it later." Amara said quickly as she sensed Clark was eager for them to get to Harry.

* * *

Sound can't travel in the vacuum of space. But that had no affect on telepathy. With five telepaths now accompanying them Clark and Harry could easily communicate with each other and Hal, although the Lanterns seemed to be able to talk to each other anyway.

The team was assembled, dressed in their uniforms. Emma had switched to her diamond form as it was immune to the vacuum of space whilst the others had specially developed charms that acted similar to a bubble head charm except was just out side their skin.

Except Amara.

Fire cannot burn in space. No oxygen no fire. But that doesn't mean you can't have heat. The sun is merely a big heater after all.

Amara couldn't generate fire but her magma form was easily able to exist in space as she was the fuel and didn't need the oxygen.

Unfortunately for Clark it was now apparent that when Amara was in this form her clothes didn't exist… she was just covered by flame.

In other words; he had a damned good view of a naked Amara… even if she was glowing red.

"_She's a sexy hot goddess, right?"_ Dani smirked at the blushing Clark.

"_Not now Dani." _Amara chastised lightly, though it was clear she was smirking. _"Clark, you've seen me in a bikini, you've seen Emma naked, is this really so bad?"_

"_Ask me after Diana and Kyla find out."_ Clark grumbled as he kept his eyes averted.

"_You have my permission to look, Clark."_ Amara assured him.

"_And my encouragement!"_ Dani added.

"_Girls, can we not break Clark right now?"_ Harry requested. _"I'll remind you that Hal can see you as well."_

Clark was surprised when Dani moved protectively between Amara and Hal and started glaring at him.

"_Ok, do you have any idea on how to handle Parallax?" _Harry asked Hal as he led him away a few metres to spare him from death by angry Native American.

"Me? I thought you were Death, the Master of Magic and all that." Hal said, somehow the power of his ring gave him the ability to appear to talk in space. It was something Harry, Laura and Brunhilde would investigate later.

"_I am, but it would be good for Earth if you can handle this yourself. You saw how Sinestro looked down on you. I saw him start to believe my claim of being Death, anything I do will be considered as Death not a human. If you, a mere human Lantern can pull this off then you will be doing Earth a huge favour."_

"This thing took out several Lanterns on it's own. What am I supposed to do?" Hal argued.

"_Use what you know."_

Hal looked slightly betrayed as Harry backed off and returned to float with the others. He turned to face out to where Parallax could be seen barrelling down on Earth. Parallax was huge. So his first objective… get its attention.

* * *

"_Clark, keep an eye on Hal, if he seems in trouble, help him out. The rest of us will provide a barrier that will nullify the aspects of fear and weaken Parallax."_ Harry instructed.

"_Fear is an Aspect?"_ Clark asked worriedly.

Harry laughed. _"Just a figure of speech, Clark."_

Clark moved away slightly as the others formed circle with Harry at the top and Scott at the bottom. The girls arranged themselves to fill it out with around a hundred meters between them. Then they started to glow.

Without a doubt, Clark had never felt so content in his entire life than he did bathing in that pure white glow.

The Lanterns felt the purity of the glow and their will became stronger and the green barrier they projected became nearly impenetrable.

On Earth the people felt peace, except those who were truly evil. They fell to the floor in agony, those like Lionel and Lucas Luthor and most of the Arkham Asylum inmates. Jean would be pleased to learn that Scott Kelvin, Tina Greer and Greg Arkin seemed to have beneficial reactions to the light where as Coach Arnold screamed in agony.

The person who benefited the most was Hal Jordan. With the power he felt encouraging him he knew he could take on Parallax. He had his plan and he began his attack run, his ring wasn't really a tool of destruction but every solar system had a lovely incinerator just waiting to be used.

Clark watched as Hal got Parallax's attention, he could see the look of concentration on Hal's face as he flew as fast as his ring would take him. He could see Hal's plan as Hal dodged around leading the being of fear ever closer to the sun's pull.

And then he saw it.

Hal was barely holding his position as Parallax floated by impotently. Clark sped forward hoping his own power was enough to drag Hal away. The journey took longer than he expected, even at full speed but as he reached Hal he moved up behind him and began carrying the exhausted Lantern away from the sun.

As they arrived back with Harry and the group the Lanterns lowered their wall and joined them and Harry and the others stopped glowing, leaving everyone feeling a little bit empty with the loss of the glowing power.

"Very nice work, Hal Jordan." Sinestro said sincerely. "The ring chose well."

"_Agreed."_ Harry nodded. _"He'll be a good addition to protecting the universe. For now though I have to go and finish Parallax off."_

"But he's dead." Hal objected.

"_No, Parallax is a god you destroyed his body but his soul lives on. Only Death can destroy a soul, thus only Death can truly destroy a god."_ Brunhilde said solemnly.

"How can the Lanterns aid you?" Sinestro asked respectfully of Harry.

"_You can't. This is something only I can do. Kal-El is the only one who can give something in the way of assistance."_ He said as he turned to the young godling.

"_Me?"_

"_I have never been to the centre of this sun. It would take me years to fly there under my own power. You, on the other hand, are fast enough to get me there in a mere fraction of the time."_

"_You want me to fly you into the sun? First of all, are you sure I can survive that, and secondly, can you please clear it with Zeus and Odin first, the last thing I want is for the various pantheons to come after me."_

"_Do not worry Kal-El."_ Brunhilde said soothingly. _"The pantheons would judge you based on your intent and as we, his soul mates, vouch for you they will not harm you."_

"_We may decide to make you keep us warm in bed though."_ Dani warned suggestively. She received a slap on the back of the head from Laura.

"_You don't need to take me all the way Clark, you just need to help me build up enough speed, the lack of friction in space and the pull of the sun will increase my speed as I get closer."_

"_Alright, but make sure you come and find me as soon as your done. Just to make sure I'm not sitting in a cell in Asgard or Olympus."_ Clark said seriously. Having seen what happened to this worlds Thor he wasn't taking any chances. This was a far cry from occasionally zapping Harry on the back of the head with lightning.

"_I'll be back as soon as I can."_ Harry said as he held out a hand to Clark who flew towards him quickly gaining speed and flying out of sight in a blur.

* * *

Lex and Tess were trying to assure Carol that Hal was fine. It was hard for Tess to be fully onboard and genuine about Harry being Death as she had no proof. Her brother on the other hand was full of stories. Both women were surprised to meet Cassandra who Lex managed to find.

All three were relieved though when Hal and the others minus Harry and Clark returned.

Scott quickly brought them up to speed on what had happened.

"Someone needs to let Kyla know Clark won't be back tonight." Lex said. "Clark mentioned he had a date with her."

"I'll handle it." Amara said as she teleported out.

"How long will it take Harry to deal with Parallax's soul?" Lex asked.

"Seconds." Lorna shrugged. "But Parallax is tiny compared to the sun. Harry may have to search for him for a bit. Fortunately he will be able to see the soul easy enough."

"How can his body survive in the sun?" Tess asked.

"It can't. His body will be gone long before he reaches the sun's orbit." Scott answered. "It will rebuild it's self continuously. He will be in absolute agony the entire time he is there."

"In short, he's just taken a trip to Hell." Dani scowled, Amara put an arm around her comfortingly.

"Couldn't he have just destroyed Parallax before I sent him into the sun?" Hal asked.

"Probably, but he said something about needing you to prove to the other Lanterns that humans weren't worthless." Lorna sighed.

"Damn that Sinestro." Hal muttered. He didn't hate the guy but he had caused a huge problem.

"What do we do now?" Tess asked.

"Get on with our lives." Jean shrugged. "Harry and Clark will be back as soon as they can."

"How can Clark survive the sun? You said he was just an alien and fairly invulnerable but not like Harry." Tess queried.

"Clark's powers are fuelled by the sun." Laura smirked. "Chances are he'll come back super-charged, maybe with full access to everything he should have."

"It also mean he might need to stay away from school for a while." Emma noted. "He could wind up endangering the students if he doesn't have control of his powers."

"If necessary I'll take him to our home universe again." Jean said unconcernedly.

"I might have a problem." Lex spoke up hesitantly. "Lionel came around today and tried to accuse me of hijacking one of his trucks. I did some digging and discovered that he is hauling refined meteor rocks."

"How the hell is there so much of this stuff?" Tess asked. "There was one meteor shower over a decade ago."

"It was a huge shower, Tess." Lex explained solemnly. "I could see them streaking through the sky for as far as I could see. And then there were slower rocks that landed in other areas of the planet as it rotated. Smallville bore the brunt but for the next year or so there were reports of large meteor strikes all over the planet."

"But for God's sake, don't tell Clark that." Phoebe warned.

"He _still_ tries to take the blame for it." Mindee continued.

"Next time he goes into a funk we're jumping in his bed naked!" Celeste said adamantly.

"Excuse me?" Emma asked imperiously.

"You heard me." Celeste said as she stuck her nose in the air and folded her arms.

"I'll leave you to deal with Martha and Jonathan then."

"Maybe we'll just flash him then." She relented. None of them wanted to disappoint the woman they considered their adoptive mother.


	29. Chapter 29

Clark didn't make it back to Earth until the following day. By that point Hal had headed off to the Lantern's planet of Oa to learn more about his duties. Carol had returned home and to her work but there were at least two interested potential investors in Lex and Amara. Amara was speaking on behalf of Harry who usually spoke on behalf of the family.

Clark was having issues with his hearing and eyesight. He had realised during Hal's battle with Parallax that he could see much further than he normally could. Now he was having trouble as his eyes could see things at a microscopic level. After spending the better part of a day alone in the silence of space, his return to Earth was an assault on his senses, both smell and hearing as everything was far too strong. He followed the smell of baked goods from space all the way to France before he realised what was going on. He then spent twenty minutes zipping around Paris and taking out muggers, rapists and other criminals as he heard them.

It was evening when he got home and the news channels were showing images of Superman from all over the world going on a crime-stopping spree.

"Congratulations Clark. Superman just became a household name." Laura smirked.

"That wasn't what I was going for." Clark said as he buried his head in his hands. "I could hear all those people begging for help and… I couldn't leave them."

"You can still hear them. Can't you?" Scott said quietly. Scott was finally back at work now that the real criminals were in jail, Tess still came to help Laura give self-defence lessons as she seemed to enjoy it.

Clark just nodded.

"Oh Clark." Martha said mournfully as she put an arm around her son.

"I hated living in the city." Ryan spoke up. It was early evening and Martha and Jonathan had popped over to pick up Ryan from Lorna's school. "I could hear everyone's thoughts and dreams. It was horrible." He whispered.

"But your control is coming along nicely." Jean assured him with a smile full of a teacher's pride. "You can't hear what any of us are thinking right now can you?"

Ryan smiled and nodded. "Only Mom, Dad, Lana Chloe, Lex and Tess. And only if I want to."

"What about Kyla?" Chloe asked curiously.

"I'm a trained Amazon." Kyla grinned. "We learnt how to protect our minds from Queen Amara… well, they will at least. I learnt from other Amazons and they learnt from Her Majesty. But I don't think that will be for another year or so. It took me that long to become proficient."

"I like Harry's mind. His dragon always reminds me I'm safe." Ryan said surely.

"Which explains why I feel fairly vulnerable at the moment." Lex quipped. "Lionel keeps pestering me about his hi-jacked truck and demanding it back, I hate to think what he wants with all that Kryptonite."

"I had an interesting encounter with your genetic donor today." Chloe spoke up. "I went down to the hospital to see if the driver was awake and willing to give an interview. Lionel was there."

"Don't call him our 'genetic donor'… I hate being reminded I have anything of his." Tess shuddered.

Chloe smiled but completely understood. "Well, he says that the truck being his wasn't a secret. But that he is offering a reward to get it back. He even offered to pay for an advertisement about the reward for info in the Torch."

"And what did you tell him, Miss Sullivan?" Emma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That he had to talk with my Editor and you." She smirked. "I actually enjoyed passing the buck this time."

"Yeah, thanks for that." Lana grumbled. "Do we have a policy or judgment on that sort of request, _Principal_ Frost?"

"Yes, firstly, we wouldn't put anything so reckless in the school newspaper. I don't want my students putting themselves in danger. Secondly, if you agree Miss Lang, I believe you can step down as Editor now as I believe Miss Sullivan has proven herself worthy of the position once more."

"Thank you!" Lana cried out. "You are on your own Sullivan!" She said as she cackled madly at her non-identical blonde friend.

"You aren't getting off that easy Lang. I've been writing the same stories I wrote as Editor and I can tell you that people are buying it more for your articles. I bring in the ones who look for the headlines, you bring in the actual subscribers." Chloe smirked.

"As long as I don't have to proof read everything and deal with all the administrative stuff. I get enough practice with that at work."

"Fed up with it already?" Scott asked Lana with a small smile.

"Just the idiots. It's worth it every time I see a couple at a table. It's another reminder that the place where my parents met is still there."

"Speaking of parents, how goes things with Henry?" Dani asked.

"Not so good." She admitted sadly. "We get on well, but his wife… she was looking to divorce him, I don't know if she just doesn't like me or that I was taking him away from his family too much, but we agreed to not see each other for a while, at least until he can sort out his marriage and try and save it."

"You do realise it sounds like you're dating the man?" Tess asked.

Lana laughed. "We said the same thing, but if your Mom was married and had kids you'd probably be facing the same problem."

"And that leads us neatly into asking about you and you're mother." Dani grinned.

"We are doing fine." Tess said with a mild glare at Dani. "We are talking, she has one or two stories about me before I was kidnapped. We are planning on going away together for the summer."

"Not taking Lex with you?" Dani asked.

"I… hopefully, will be on my honeymoon." Lex said proudly.

There was a round of congratulations and a promise of retribution from Jean to have words with Helen for not telling her.

"Clark, I know I asked you before, but would you be my best man… again?" Lex asked causing the others to laugh.

"Are we sure Helen's good enough for him?" Clark asked Emma seriously.

"She's been fending off Lionel to protect Lex. She'll do fine." Emma assured him.

"Alright, I guess I should come up with a new speech." Clark mused.

"Just don't go meeting this one on the wedding night." Lex said with a playful glare.

"I intend to be far away that night. Preferably on Oa or with Thor, Sif and Loki."

* * *

Sheriff Adams was fairly surprised to be invited down to the school the next day. Given the rather fractious relationship she had with the Head of the School and her family she thought she would have to get a warrant. Principal Frost informed her that the truck driver had told Miss Sullivan that the attackers wore alien masks. The school had a policy of cooperation with the law and had conducted a search of the lockers that revealed Eric Marsh as one of the perpetrators. He was quickly escorted away.

Adams was disconcerted and highly suspicious when Lionel Luthor bailed the boy out less than half-an-hour later and accepted responsibility for him, the boy was a minor but had his parent's permission.

Brunhilde and Clark took to tailing the boy as Clark was forbidden from the school for a week until he had his strength under control. Most of the criminals he caught when he got back to Earth had broken bones and the doors of the castle needed putting back on their hinges. Earl just laughed as he put it on his to-do list.

They eventually tracked Eric to a foundry where he met up with his accomplices who were also fellow students. They heard them talking about returning part of the kryptonite to Luthor for a huge reward.

"Stay here Clark." Brunhilde whispered. "There is far too much Kryptonite in there for you to do anything but piss Jean and Harry off by collapsing."

Clark just glared as she walked into the foundry.

"Children. Get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head. The Sheriff is on the way." She ordered.

At first they looked shocked, but then they noticed that she was alone.

"You think you can stop us?" Eric laughed. "We'll be gone long before the Sheriff gets here. As for you, well we can't have a witness, Luthor wouldn't like that. Shame as you are quite the sexy thing."

"Can I assume that you are refusing to comply?" Brunhilde enquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Comply? How about you comply whilst we kill you." Eric snarled as he moved forward quickly to punch Hilde in the face.

It was a clumsy swing and regardless of the strength and speed, Hilde saw it from a mile away and was nowhere near where it landed. She charged her hand with a stunner and landed a chop to the back of the boy's neck sending him to the floor unconscious.

"Shall we continue or would you like to try your untrained hands as well?" She asked patronisingly.

Both boys charged together and Clark just winced as they were easily put down by one of his combat trainers. Nowadays he could take them on in a fight but he knew that if he lost his powers they would wipe the floor with him. They encouraged him to fight with his powers but also made sure to improve his technique.

"I miss a real challenge." Hilde sighed despondently.

"Thanks." Clark said sarcastically as he walked up behind her.

She laughed at his pout. "You are turning into a fine fighter Clark, but you lack the experience to make sparring what it should be. In order to defeat me you need to rely on your powers and that ends the match far too quickly. Sparring with Laura becomes far too repetitive for us both."

"I promise to try and get better." Clark said solemnly with a hint of a smile.

"Mr. Kent, and Mrs. Potter. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to find you here." Sheriff Adams said unhappily as she walked into the foundry with a couple of deputies in tow.

"No, you shouldn't. Especially as I identified myself when I called you." Hilde pointed out causing one of the deputies to receive a glare from his boss when a laugh escaped him.

"Is that your work?" Adams asked as she pointed to the three insensate bodies.

"Unfortunately Mr. Marsh and his school friends sought to kill me when I informed them they were being taken into custody."

"It was fairly pathetic." Clark chimed in. "Eric might be able to swing a bat but Brunhilde is a highly skilled martial arts instructor." He said as the sheriff and her deputies looked at him sceptically.

"You expect me to believe that Mrs. Potter here took out three substantially bulky young men all by herself whilst you just sat back and watched?"

"Of course not. That's what the camcorder is for." Clark smiled helpfully as he showed them the device.

Adams decided to ignore it for now. At least it would help in putting the boys away for a while. "I suppose Luthor will be wanting his cargo back." She mused.

"I don't believe Mr. Luthor will want to claim that as his." Brunhilde said. "Kryptonite has been labelled as a dangerous substance and you require a licence to handle it. At present LexCorp holds the state licence for disposal or storage. If Luthor claims it you will be forced to arrest him."

"Could you let us know when if he tries, Chloe will probably want pictures for the Torch and the Planet." Clark requested.

Clark was actually getting on Adam's nerves. "Mrs. Potter, perhaps you should take Mr. Kent home. I will call you in later to take your statement, for now the recording will do."

"Come along Clark." Brunhilde ordered calmly. As they made it a few steps away she let a smirk cross her face. "You are spending far too much time with Harry if you found that enjoyable."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Only for the Sheriff's sanity."

* * *

Lex, Tess, Brunhilde and Amara were at the LexCorp Fertiliser plant discussing the hand over of the Kryptonite for disposal whilst Gabe Sullivan dealt with the paperwork. Taking pictures nearby was Chloe who thought that it might make a decent side story for the Torch and she wanted to see if The Planet was interested as Kryptonite was fairly rare.

The Kryptonite Disposal Facility was actually a newly built structure several hundred metres away from the main plant. The process for handling the deadly substance was Kryptonian based on what Harry witnessed from Clark's ship but the family had managed to classify the whole thing, it would take a ruling from the government to force them to reveal the process. But the end results were pure clear meteor rocks with no radiation output.

Once they were finished with the transfer and destruction Lex and Gabe were called to the security gate. There they found one Lionel Luthor and his bastard son Lucas.

"I have here a court order demanding you return my property." Lionel said imperiously.

Lex glanced at the document before handing it to Amara. "I'll need to see your licence to handle this dangerous substance." Lex said calmly.

"The court order will deal with that." Lionel said dismissively.

Amara gave a nod to Brunhilde who walked off and pulled out her phone.

"I'm afraid this court order is not enough. Without the licence we are prohibited by law from allowing you or anyone else to take the kryptonite." Amara informed him.

"That court order-"

"Does not comply with the law and the judge in question will likely need to explain himself to a federal court and possibly Congress." Amara interrupted.

"If you refuse to hand over my property I will just call in the Sheriff."

"She's already on the way." Brunhilde stated. "She will be here in five minutes and asked that I request you await her arrival."

The group moved away about twenty feet whilst Lionel and Lucas were left glaring at them from outside the gate whilst two burly guards kept them there.

"Why hasn't he just applied for a licence?" Chloe asked.

"He has." Lex smirked. "But the Lunar Society for the Protection of Earth denied him one."

"Lunar Society, who are they?"

"That would be what Harry does with his money. Instead of impeding on the current economy and business he set up an organisation that would monitor various aspects of what happens on Earth to prevent catastrophes like Chernobyl. The Society has strong links with the Nuclear Regulatory Authority." Brunhilde explained.

"Who is on the Committee?" She asked.

"Harry and Jean, Virgil is being inducted, Alfred, Earl and Cassandra."

"That's an unusual bunch, I didn't think the last three had the qualifications or relevant education for that sort of thing."

"Alfred has some due to his SAS training. Earl and Cassandra don't need it, they are the moral members. Also… Cassandra can sometimes get a read on the applicant when she shakes their hand." Amara explained.

"Why hasn't this been in the papers?"

"When was the last time you heard of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority?" Lex asked with a small smile.

"Right, no news is good news. Just not for a reporter." She sighed causing the others to chuckle.

"What the hell is that twerp doing?" Tess said angrily as she started running to the guard post.

Lucas was attacking the guards and trying to get away.

The group reached the post and Brunhilde quickly put the foolish boy down.

"Sheriff, just in time." Amara said angrily. "You saw?"

"I did." Adams said with a stern look at Lucas. "Lucas Luthor, you are under arrest for the assault on two men. Deputy, read him his rights."

The young deputy walked forward and cuffed the struggling teen and walked him off.

"Now, Mr. Lionel Luthor, I understand from Mrs Potter that you are claiming the recovered Kryptonite is yours but that you cannot produce the licence for the stuff."

"I have a court order that supersedes that." Lionel said dismissively.

"The court order doesn't interest me. What interests me is that you are saying that the truck that was attacked was carrying _your_ Kryptonite?"

Lionel frowned, he could sense he was in a dodgy position here but couldn't figure out why. "That is not what I am saying. I am saying that the recovered Kryptonite is being handed over to me by the court."

"Actually the court order states that the Kryptonite should be returned to Lionel Luthor." Amara said as she examined the document.

"In that case, you are under arrest for the illegal possession of hazardous and dangerous materials."

"Are you really going to waste your time trying this? We both know the charges won't stick and that I'll be out for dinner."

"Actually, you won't be eligible for bail." Lex spoke up with a smirk. "Kryptonite is considered on par with other radioactive isotopes. Possession is a terrorist offence. You will be picked up by the FBI and taken to Washington."

"Damn." Chloe muttered as she realised she was going to miss out on a huge story.

* * *

Scott was finishing up some paperwork later that evening when a very pale Lana stumbled into his office at the Talon.

"Lana, what's wrong?" He asked as he led her to the sofa that was against the wall, he often used it for catching a nap after an adventure that ran late.

"I think I saw a ghost." She whispered.

"What did it look like?" Scott asked.

Lana couldn't believe that Scott wasn't questioning her sanity. He gave her a small knowing smile and she realised that Scott's best friend was Death.

"My old friend, Emily Dinsmore. But she died years ago." Lana explained. "And there was a movie playing on the screen, it was an old home movie of us as kids."

"Ok, we can take a look and see what we can find. Harry would be best here as he can call on Emily's soul to see if she is here. But Laura and Clark will be able to track any strange scents." He assured her.

"Ghosts leave smells?"

"Sort of, but they won't be checking for ghosts, they will be checking for someone or something out of place."

* * *

Chloe couldn't believe she was flying in a jet. A private jet. Amara had decided not to deny Chloe the opportunity to cover this story, the girl was eager to be one of her Amazons and she and Lana would be offered the chance over the summer break. She took the care and development of her subjects very seriously. Amara needed to be in Washington to liaise with the federal authorities about Luthor's criminal activities and Virgil was accompanying them as part of the Lunar Society. Virgil wasn't entirely happy as he had to play up the invalid role and stay in his wheel chair. Although he was allowed to use his hands now and not rely on the respirator.

In the back of the plane with two FBI agents from the Metropolis office was Lionel Luthor, securely shackled in an orange jumpsuit.

He had complained bitterly at first until Amara had threatened to put him in the cargo hold.

He had tried to call abuse to his guards but they had offered to watch him themselves. It was clear Luthor had no friends on this ride.

Chloe was getting the whole thing down, complete with pictures.

* * *

"That's my favourite dress."

Lana spun around to see little Emily Dinsmore sitting happily on her bed.

Lana was very worried, the castle was supposed to be very safe, everyone said Harry put lot's of protections on the place, Thor and Loki had even added their own protections when they where there.

She was sure she wasn't hallucinating. Her head didn't feel fuzzy, her vision wasn't blurred and her hearing was crystal clear. She was sure Emily was there.

"Emily-"

She was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in!" She said frantically.

The door opened to show Harry standing there.

"Harry, you're back. I'd like to introduce you to-" Lana frowned as the bed was now vacant one small girl.

"Emily Dinsmore?" Harry offered helpfully.

"You saw her?" She said hopefully.

"No, Scott told me. Was she just here?"

"She was sitting on the bed."

Harry walked over and carefully examined the bedspread. "Ok, good news bad news. Someone or something was in this room. Bad news, you were the only soul in this room."

"What does that mean?" She asked as she sank into her desk chair.

"Absolutely nothing good. I will need to get a DNA sample to compare with the DNA here but based on what I am seeing, your childhood friend might have been cloned."

"So there is _an_ Emily Dinsmore out there right now?"

"No. Very much no." Harry said firmly. "You remember what I said about you being the only soul? In my home world all clones created were soulless. Scott's world was a bit better but the souls were badly damaged, it's the reason the Trips and Laura bonded with me, to stabilise their souls.

"Clones without souls… beings without souls are the foulest of the foul. They are without morals or conscience. They will do what they want to get what they want and they won't care about anyone who gets in their way."

"What does this mean for Emily?" Lana asked sadly.

"Emily is dead, happily enjoying her existence on the other side. Whatever that thing is that is visiting you… it needs to be put down quickly."

Lana looked horrified.

"That thing is not truly alive Lana." Harry said earnestly. "Without a soul it will never be truly alive."

"Can't we give her a soul? Can't I give her part of my soul like you did with the others?" She asked as tears began to fill her eyes.

"Sweet Lana. Always so caring." Lana was startled by the soft voice as Aphrodite appeared beside her and hugged her. "Creating a soul is sacred task, it must be done with caution. The gods do not do so lightly and only the heads of the pantheons would even dare try, I was only allowed to create my Amazons with Love's blessing."

"But she seemed so real." Lana cried.

"But it's not me, Lana."

Lana turned to see the ethereal form of a twenty-year-old Emily standing next to Harry.

"Emily?" She gasped.

"In the spirit." Emily said with a soft smile. "I died long ago, this thing walking around is nothing more than a shell with my face and memories. It has no morals, let Lord Death deal with it, don't let it continue as all it will do is cause hurt and use my name and face to do so. I don't want you to remember me like that." She pleaded.

"But… maybe you could come back and… "

"Lana, I told you before, bringing the dead back is not right. Only truly exceptional circumstances would move me to do so." Harry explained calmly.

"But- but it's my fault you died!" Lana cried in distress.

"Lana Lang! You will not say that again, ever!" Emily said sternly.

"But it's true! I couldn't save you!"

"You were ten! That's why you couldn't save me! It was an accident Lana, I still remember seeing your crying face as the current took me away. It still hurts to see you so sad. Please, just remember the good times, remember I love you and I hope you can come stay with me, or at least visit." She said with wry smile.

"I miss you." Lana said tearfully from Aphrodite's arms.

"I miss you too, now dry your tears and forget about that clone. Go spend some time with your living friends. If you ask him real nice, Lord Death might help me visit you now and again." She said teasingly.

"Why do you call him Lord Death? He doesn't usually like that." She asked as she glanced at Harry who just rolled his eyes.

"Lord Death is the reason the Afterlife is so good. All those evil souls that he kills, if they where allowed to crossover we would have to always watch our backs, but he destroys them. He may never get to come here, but he is, without a doubt one of the afterlife's greatest and beloved heroes."

"I love you Emily."

"I love you Lana. Be happy, for me." Emily said with a wave as she began to fade away.

Lana looked to Harry sadly. "Thank you."

Harry just nodded and backed out of the room leaving Lana in Aphrodite's capable hands.

* * *

Chloe watched as Lionel was loaded into the back of a military van. She wasn't allowed to take pictures or divulge any of what she saw since she reached the hanger where an Army General was waiting with a squad of men and convoy of army vehicles. She watched with interest as the FBI agents accepted the transfer papers and Lionel was handed over. As the convoy pulled off she turned to Amara.

"What will happen to him now?"

"Hard to say. Lionel still has a lot of power, he could still get out of this."

"What about the story?" She asked as she held up her notepad.

"If Pauline can get it out quick enough then it may help in knocking down his reputation, but it is unlikely to affect whatever the justice system has in store for him or what he can pull out of his hat."

"It stinks, but in the end, money is power." Virgil added from his wheelchair. "It's why I got out of the business world. Too much can be bought and paid for. For the right price too much can be ignored."

"Which is why Harry always works to eliminate the need for currency in the world. North Korea has no monetary system. The people get what they need and they can build want they want with magic." Amara explained.

"What about import and export?" Chloe asked.

"The country is fairly self sufficient. With the need for internal currency eliminated there is a wealth of precious metals sitting in vaults and safes that can be used for international trade."

* * *

Clark, Lex and Laura stood outside the door to Mr. Dinsmore's house. Lex had told them that Dinsmore was supposed to be working on a growth acceleration formula to increase the speed of growing crops and herds. There wasn't supposed to be anything about cloning, the closest thing was that he worked with rabbit embryos.

Lex knocked on the door as Clark scanned the house with his x-ray vision and Laura confirmed that the same scent from Lana's room was around the house.

"Mr. Luthor- sorry, I mean Mr. Matheson, is there a problem?" Mr. Dinsmore asked.

"Yes Peter there is, you know exactly what the problem is. Emily has been visiting Lana Lang." Lex stated without preamble.

"Emily? Emily who?"

Peter Dinsmore collapsed under a blast of red light. Lex and Clark turned to Laura who just shrugged. "We don't need to argue with him. We will take him to Jean and she can read his mind and as long as he wasn't being malicious she can remove all knowledge of cloning and maybe add some suggestions to seek counselling."

Lex shrugged and waved his hand sending Dinsmore to one of the cells in the castle dungeon just like the others had taught him.

They went through the house searching for any reference to Emily being alive since her death. When they completed that they moved to the secret lab Clark had spotted through the walls.

"My god! He had back ups?" Lex asked in horror as they saw two clones of Emily.

"I don't think so, I think these were trials, maybe they didn't come out right." Laura suggested.

"He had to have known this was wrong and unethical though." Clark argued.

"I've seen people do crazy things when they become obsessed, reason and morals don't often figure into it." She said sadly.

"This one's heart is beating!" Clark called out urgently. He was shocked when the clone's eyes snapped open and he stumbled backwards knocking a vial to the floor. Clark collapsed in agony.

"Damn it Clark, pay more attention to your surroundings!" Laura snapped as Lex waved a hand, clearing the liquid kryptonite away.

"Sorry, it's just she startled me, she opened her eyes."

Laura moved to the clone and looked closely at it. She waved her hand in front of its eyes. "I don't think this one has a consciousness. Probably one of the failed experiments."

"The other is dead, but… not decomposing." Clark announced. "What do we do with them?"

"We burn the place down." Laura said firmly.

"All of it? What about all his belongings and photos?" Clark asked.

"All of it Clark. We can't risk cloning technology getting out, the heartbreak it can cause is immense, and that's if you don't take into account the personal violation of stealing a persons DNA.

"You two head outside, I'm going to be using a magical fire to burn this place. It might be dangerous to you Clark."

Clark nodded, he wasn't happy but he had learnt to trust Laura's judgement and that of the others.

* * *

Peter Dinsmore woke up groggily; he vaguely remembered a fire in his house and then nothing. He sat up quickly to find himself in a hospital room.

"Mr. Dinsmore, you're awake."

Sitting in the corner watching him was a young teenage girl with beautiful features and ebony hair. She reminded him of- "Lana? Lana Lang?" He asked.

Lana nodded. "I heard what happened to your house and you. I wanted to make sure you were ok."

A dark expression crossed his face. "I don't need you checking up on me Lana. Go home." He said bitterly.

Lana's gaze fell to the floor as the hurt hit her hard. She knew he blamed her for Emily's death, but hearing it was still horrible. "I just wanted to leave you this." She said as she placed a photo album on the soft chair she had been using. "The fire-fighters say you lost everything, I wanted you to have something from Emily."

Without another word she left the room and started walking down the corridor. "He didn't take it well?"

Lana looked up to see Kyla, Chloe and the Cuckoos standing there.

"No Kyla, he didn't. He still blames me." She said sadly.

"Really." Kyla said her face as dark as Clark's thunderstorms.

"It's ok, I can't blame him." Lana said.

"That's because you're a good person. I, on the other hand am an Amazon." She said as she marched past Lana and banged into the room.

"Wow… so much for subtlety." Chloe said with wide eyes.

Celeste laughed. "Kyla has truly embraced being an Amazon. The Amazons are children of Aphrodite, Aphrodite has made at least one personal visit to comfort Lana."

"What does that mean?" Lana asked.

"It means that in Kyla's eyes you are favoured by her goddess." Mindee answered. "An insult to the favoured of the gods is an insult on the gods."

"She won't… _do_ anything to him will she?" Chloe asked worriedly.

"Like we said, she's a true Amazon." Phoebe smiled with pride. "She is a warrior but that is not the purpose of an Amazon. Their role is to spread love and compassion on behalf of their goddess."

"You head off, I'll wait for Kyla." Phoebe instructed the others.


	30. Chapter 30

As the end of the year approached Harry received a call. He had to head for Japan immediately. His friend there had important information that might relate to the MBI situation. This meant that they needed a replacement for the school doctor. Instead of Jean taking over, Helen offered to handle it after clearing it with the head of the Medical Centre. The head was a huge fan of the work Harry did and was more than willing to cover the school as long as Helen worked the afternoons and evenings until her wedding.

The long days away from Lex took their toll as the bald headed billionaire struggled to handle wedding decisions on his own.

"Mr. Matheson, I would have thought quick decision making would have been your forte." The wedding planner frowned.

Lex stood up from examining the wedding cake samples. "That's why I made the quick decision to put Helen in charge of the wedding."

The planner gave a 'ah' of realisation.

"This is beyond me. Ask me to organise a gala, a dance or a wine tasting and I'm your man. I need help for this, would you excuse me whilst I make a phone call?"

The planner smiled and walked off to give him some privacy. Harry and the family had insisted on hosting the wedding at the castle and they were currently in the Great Hall that had various tables set out.

Lex put his phone to his ear without dialling. _"I don't care which of you ladies can hear this but I really need some help with this wedding stuff!"_ He sent out using magic.

Around the castle and in the high school various females burst out laughing… which was embarrassing for the high school girls in class. Especially as they were studying segregation in history class. Lex didn't realise it but his life was about to become hell.

"_Oh god! Emma, get in here and bail us out!"_ Phoebe said in a panic as the whole class and Clark looked at them horrified.

"_Girls, suck it up and play it off."_ Emma smirked from her office.

"_Lex, focus on Dani and me, don't get the girls in anymore trouble."_ Helen sent.

"_You will pay for that Lex."_ Chloe growled.

"_Good luck Lex."_ Scott chuckled.

Lex slowly began to realise what he had done.

"_Sorry! So sorry!" _He narrowed his focus to Dani and Helen.

"_Lex, what's the problem?"_ Helen asked.

"_The problem is I am looking at seven samples of wedding cake and aside from one which is decidedly rank, the rest are fine. I have no idea which one to pick without upsetting you later."_

"_I think that should be the least of your worries right now. My advice is to get down to the school, grab Helen and elope before the girls get out of class." _Dani snickered.

"_Thank you very much Dani. Helen, please, help me."_

"_I'm on my way."_ Tess said over the link. _"I actually listened when Helen was discussing what she wanted."_

"_When was that?"_ Lex asked.

"_Nearly everyday she's been over for dinner or at the castle."_

"_I don't remember that."_ Lex argued.

"_We know. You zone out most of the time."_ She said with exasperation.

"Shit." Lex muttered out loud.

"_Language!"_ Came three admonishments.

* * *

Lex was assaulted by more than just Lana, Chloe and the Cuckoos. Kyla also made an appearance.

"IT WAS SEX ED!" Kyla screeched at him. "Now everyone thinks I'm immature! Do you _remember_ what high school was like?"

"At least everyone doesn't think you are racist." Mindee pouted.

"You can play yours off, all of you laughed, say there was a ticklish breeze or something." Kyla said dismissively.

"Damn, why didn't we think of that?" Chloe muttered.

"Well it doesn't help that with Pete gone we're all white and most of us are a shoe-in for the Aryan Club." Phoebe scowled at Lex.

"Oh… yeah, I hadn't thought of that." Kyla winced. "I take it back, yours is worse."

"Ladies, please. I'm sorry, I panicked and I didn't think. How about this, I come in and apologise for accidentally group texting you?" Lex pleaded from where he was backed up against the wall of the Great Hall as Helen, Tess and the other ladies of the castle looked on.

"That's a start." Phoebe said, she then started poking him in the chest viciously. "But you will be making it up to us for the shame and embarrassment."

"Of course! Of course!" He said quickly. He was developing a sheen of sweat on his shiny head. These girls were down right terrifying.

"And another thing-" Phoebe stopped as she started screaming in agony along with her sisters, Dani, Lorna, Brunhilde, Laura and Amara.

"What's happening?" Lana asked worriedly as she caught Celeste and eased her to the floor as the girl continued to scream.

"Knock them out with stunners." Jean ordered over the screams of her friends.

Flashes of red suddenly silenced them.

"What the hell was that?" Lex demanded as he lifted Phoebe who he had caught in his arms.

"I don't know. Is anyone else feeling pain?"

"I have a mild headache." Clark admitted. "And a bit of a chest pain."

Jean walked over to him quickly and began running diagnostics.

"I can't reach Harry." Jonathan spoke up from where he was helping Martha with the girls.

"Confirmed, I can't sense him telepathically either." Emma added. "I will attempt to use Cerebro." She said as she vanished.

"Jonathan, take Clark to Themiscyra." Scott ordered. "Check on Diana, so far all of the affected are Harry's soul mates."

Jonathan jogged over to Clark and they teleported out.

* * *

Jonathan and Clark arrived in the royal palace on Themiscyra to find a screaming Diana surrounded by anxious and fretting Amazons, some were trying to maintain control of the younger girls.

"Jonathan! Lord Kal-El, our Princess-"

"It's ok Epione." Jonathan told the Chief Healer of the Amazons. "We know about the problem." He stepped forward and stunned Diana. The Amazons visibly sighed in relief as their princess ceased her screaming. "This has affected all of Harry's bonded. Even Queen Amara."

"Our Queen? Have the gods said anything yet?" Epione asked.

"We have not, but we are aware and require Lord Kal-El's assistance in this matter." Aphrodite said with a solemn expression as she appeared.

"Me?" Clark asked.

"Yes. Jonathan, would you stay and watch over my Amazons whilst Amara is incapacitated?" She asked the farmer with a look of pleading in her eye even though her face neutral.

Jonathan hid his shock. He knew just how big a step this was, to ask a man to take responsibility for the Amazons. "If that is your desire." He said with a formal bow.

Aphrodite stepped forward and kissed him firmly on the lips causing the Amazons to gasp in amazement. She then turned to address them. "This is Jonathan Kent. He will act as my regent until the Queen or Princess can resume their duties."

The Amazons bowed to Aphrodite. "Of course goddess." Epione spoke as the most senior.

"Lord Kal-El, come, we are expected." Aphrodite said as she took Clark's arm and vanished.

* * *

"Do we know what the problem is?" Scott asked as they stood in the infirmary, around them the beds were filled with the incapacitated women.

Martha was torn over which Cuckoo's hand to hold, she loved these girls.

"Martha, calm yourself or I'll knock you out and put you in the last free bed." Emma threatened. Martha's mental worrying was leaking through.

"No, we don't know what the problem is." Jean answered her husband's question. "That is the troubling thing. There is nothing wrong with them physically, magically or mentally. Which leaves one last avenue…"

"Souls." Scott sighed. "And with Harry missing we can assume he is either the unintentional cause or equally affected."

"I doubt this would hold our dear Harry back." Emma mused as she dragged a reluctant Martha away from the girls. "He spent millions of years with his damaged soul. I'm surprised that Laura is out considering how bad her soul was."

"All we can do is wait until Clark gets back from wherever Aphrodite took him." Scott shrugged. "Should we send Martha to help Jonathan? As his wife she might help him get more respect."

"No." Jean said firmly. "She asked for Jonathan specifically. I believe she wants this to be a test for her Amazons. Martha should stay here with us and Jonathan needs to deal with this on his own."

"Fine, but you need to leave Jean. If Harry is missing we need info from all sources; that includes the Phoenix Council. They might be able to help get the Cuckoos up at least."

* * *

Clark found himself transported to a castle… just not Harry's castle. Arrayed against the walls where Viking warriors.

"Hail Kal-El! God of Thunder!" A voice called out.

"HAIL!" Came the thunderous response from the Vikings.

Clark took a guess and raised his fist. "Hail!" He said loudly.

"Come forth Thunderer."

Clark looked up at the voice and saw Odin seated on a throne at the end of the great hall they were in. Aphrodite led him to the bottom of the steps leading the raised section where Odin sat and knelt, Clark followed suit.

"Rise my friends." Odin said.

Clark was worried; there was no warmth or emotion in Odin's voice, unlike when he had met him last time. Odin had been full of emotion then. He was definitely in the presence of a warrior king.

"Greetings My Lord Odin." Clark said, his voice cracking to a whisper as his nerves caught up with him.

A ghost of a smile crossed Odin's lips. "And greetings to you my young lord. I had thought I would not see you until the rebirth of my child, but this day has brought to us grave tidings and we are forced to turn to you for aid in this matter."

Clark was not about to argue with the King of Asgard… Harry: yes. Odin: Good god no!

"I await your command My Lord." Clark bowed.

"We know that an attack was made on Lord Death. King Zeus and I have met with the other Pantheon heads and agreed that it happened in the past, nearly a decade of your time ago. But we cannot discover who or what has attacked Lord Death in such a way that would keep him from us." Odin informed Clark sternly.

Clark swallowed hard. "My liege, Lord Death informed myself and his family and friends recently that he believed he would soon travel through time, he showed no sign of knowing he would be cut off from us completely."

"That is even more troubling." Odin frowned. "It is in his eyes and soul, he would not allow this to happen without warning so we can take it that he was taken unawares."

"I agree, as an Avatar of Love, he would not leave others to harm, least of all his soul mates." Aphrodite confirmed.

"Lord Kal-El, under normal circumstances we would know who attacked Lord Death or any Aspect. The Pantheons would descend on the perpetrator like Ragnarok. But we do not know what caused this." Odin admitted with disgust. "We would ask you, as both a god and Lord Death's Apprentice to seek out the bastards and bring them to justice. Also, search for anything might help us bring Lord Death back, there are dark tidings on the horizon, Lord Death maybe needed."

There was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder that caused everyone to turn to the spot where Clark and Aphrodite had appeared.

Kneeling there in full Viking garb was Thor. Harry's son-in-law.

"I seek an audience with the Great and Wise Odin." Thor said, his head bowed.

"Rise Thor Odinson and approach." Odin said as he stood. Aphrodite dragged Clark back gently and to the side.

Thor strode forward quickly and bowed. "Lord Odin, I bring greetings from my father and the Pantheons of my universe."

Odin nodded and waited.

"The loss of Lord Death has affected all the worlds. Even now my wife and brother-in-law, Lord Death's daughter and son, lie in their father's castle suffering from the loss of the link they shared with their father. I request permission of yourself and the Pantheon's of this world to stay and serve in my godfather's place as best as I can. My sister Loki also offers her services."

"You wish to serve in their stead on Midgard?"

"We do my Lord. We also wish to be close to our family in this perilous time."

Odin nodded. "You will be most welcome as always Thor Odinson, your family as well. Lord Kal-El has a mission dedicated to finding Lord Death and those responsible." He informed Thor. "Kal-El, tell me, do you have an idea where to start?"

"Japan, Lord Odin. Lord Death was headed there to investigate something, that is where we lost contact with him."

"How is your Japanese?" Thor asked.

Clark flushed mildly with embarrassment. "Weak, I can read and write the language with ease, but speaking and listening to it is still tricky."

There was a soft breeze that blew through the hall and everyone turned back to the spot where the visitors arrived. In a shower of cherry blossoms a man appeared, he was dressed in ancient Japanese garb.

"Lord Odin, I bring a gift for Lord Kal-El to aid him on his journey." The man said with a deep bow.

"Omoikane, you are welcome here." Odin said formerly.

Omoikane walked up to the small group. "It would be best if I give my gift after we have finished the discussion." He said with a wry smile.

Odin nodded. "Is there anything else our young warrior needs to know?"

Aphrodite stepped up to Clark and put her hands on his shoulders as she looked him straight in the eye.

"You have been blessed by Love, Kal-El. You have parents who gave their own lives to save you. Parents who have taken you in despite your dubious and mysterious origins. Friends who would fight for you. A soul mate who will never leave you. And you were chosen by an Avatar of Love. You are a being capable of great love. Do not be afraid to share your love, it would be a crime to keep it for yourself so selfishly."

Clark frowned, slightly confused by what the Goddess of Beauty and Love was trying to tell him.

Aphrodite smiled softly at him. "All we become clear in time." She leaned forward and kissed him deeply, shocking him.

She pulled away and stood slightly behind him leaving him very flushed and the Vikings sniggering softly. Clark didn't know it yet but he was in for a lot of ribbing when he figured out how to visit the city of Asgard on his own.

"Remember your training Kal-El." Odin said as he descended the steps from his throne. "You are a god, you have the full authority of the Thunderer. You are the Apprentice of Death himself, but this will be your first step in ascending beyond the position of student. The bond of Master and Apprentice will always be with you, and you should remember to cherish this bond, even when you chafe under the rule of the Master. You are destined for great things Clark Jonathanson, but you will decide what those things are and how you will achieve them.

"Go with the blessing of the gods of all Pantheons." He declared as he placed a hand on Clark's shoulder. He then turned Clark to face the Vikings lining the walls of the hall. "Hail Kal-El, The Thunderer!"

"HAIL!" Came the thunderous response.

Clark saw Thor make a little motion with his hand and Clark understood and raised his fist again. "HAIL!" He shouted.

Odin clapped his shoulder and smiled at him. "Lastly Omoikane has one last thing for you before you return home to make preparations for your journey."

Clark turned to the middle-aged looking Omoikane.

"You have been through this before, Lord Kal-El. My advice to you is to always remember to respect the culture of your hosts. They will respect you more for it." He said with a serious look. He then stepped up to Clark and grasped him by the face.

Clark's eyes widened as he realised what was about to happen.

Omoikane leaned in and kissed him full on the lips as knowledge began to assault his mind.

* * *

Clark stood at the Metropolis Airport waiting for the final boarding call for Tokyo. Scott, Thor and Kyla were the only ones able to come and see him off.

"Just do what you can and discover what you can. None of us has any doubts that Harry will come back on his own, we just might need him here sooner." Scott instructed.

"I will see to the protection of your town and family myself Kal-El." Thor assured him. "Do not worry about them, focus on your task, the gods _must_ do something and you are the best way for them achieve this without razing the entire city to the ground."

"No pressure. Glad to hear it." Clark said as he looked at both men glibly.

Thor just laughed at him. "Truly my Uncle is your teacher."

"Remember to call every night." Kyla said as she hugged him. "Keep an eye out for new friends as well."

"You have the name of our contact in Tokyo, he knows everything, he's from our world." Scott reminded him. "He is well versed in Japanese culture… but he can get a little grumpy."

"Scott, I never knew you to use such an understatement." Thor smirked. "Logan is a Samurai. You would do well to listen to his wisdom."

"Just… try and make sure he doesn't try and gut everyone in sight." Scott sighed.

"How exactly did he live this long?" Clark asked. "Is he another god?"

"Ha! Logan would never accept the mantle of a god and no one is stupid enough to try and offer him one." Thor scoffed.

"_THIS IS THE LAST BOARDING CALL FOR ALL PASSENGERS FOR FLIGHT AA134 TO TOKYO."_

"That's my flight." Clark sighed.

"Remember, once you're there and legally registered as being there you can always fly back home to visit." Kyla reminded him.

"But you would do well to stay until your task is done. Some of the Pantheons may not look too favourably on you leaving your post for a visit. This should really be your only focus." Thor countered.

"Well… see you… soon, I hope." Clark said as he shook both men's hands, Thor grabbed him in a hearty hug before Kyla gave him a solid kiss that left him very red as more than a few fellow travellers gave him a smirk as they passed.

* * *

A few hours later the trio arrived back at the castle for a meeting to decide how to proceed. A majority of them were missing now and the table they used in the Great Hall for meetings was decidedly empty.

"I believe our first order of business needs to be to determine what will be affected by the absence of Harry and his soul mates." Emma stated as she chaired the meeting.

"The school will be hard hit. Dani, Harry and Laura all had jobs there." Scott spoke up.

"I'm still filling in for Harry." Helen pointed out. "Will anything be affected in Smallville with Harry gone? He did make arrangements for his trip."

"He was very thorough, but if anyone thinks of something, speak up." Jean encouraged.

"I could handle Laura's classes if you can get me clearance." Tess offered. "Her students know me from when I assisted Bruce and Lex."

"I can easily get you cleared to work with children." Emma nodded. "Thank you Tess."

"Dani is the tricky one." Scott sighed. "There was a reason we picked her for that job. She has a gift for it."

"Earl has agreed to help out on the farm with Jonathan on Themiscyra and Clark in Tokyo." Martha informed them. "I could fill in as best as possible till Dani is back."

"Ok, that will work. You'll be with Helen so it won't be as if you will be alone in the deep end."

"I can help with the farm." Thor offered. "Also I can aid Tess and Scott with their classes."

"That sorts out the High-School. What about Lorna? We have several students now, they need their classes." Jean said.

"Cassandra is handling that as she was already preparing to teach classes herself. Mrs. Jenkins has agreed to be her assistant." Emma assured them.

"Isn't Queen Amara going to be the hardest one to cover for?" Kyla asked. "Mr. Kent will be fine with the Amazons, the Goddess won't let him flounder. But what about her legal cases?"

"Luthor is out of our hands for now." Scott answered. "He will probably be back but that's not a worry for now."

"From what I know, all her cases are closed. We only have to worry about any new issues that crop up." Lex said. "Do the three of you have legal accreditation?" He asked Scott, Jean and Emma.

"We do, but I fear we will be swamped if we need to deal with the courts as well." Emma warned.

"I believe I can cover any legalities that may arise." Loki grinned. "It has been too long since I got play in the courtroom."

"You really don't inspire me with confidence." Chloe said with a wary smile.

Loki just gave her a toothy smile.

"I think that's everyone." Scott sighed as he put his pen down from where he was taking notes. "Brunhilde doesn't have any real responsibilities in the world. She just oversaw all the company business. We can handle most of that. What we need to figure out is how we explain their absence to the world."

"Couldn't we say they came down with some sort of illness? Something to do with kryptonite?" Lana offered.

"Or stage an accident, but I think it will be hard to convince everyone that _all_ of them are in comas as a result." Chloe trailed off.

"I vote for the illness." Kyla raised a hand. "We could keep them safe and say we are working on a cure. If we claimed it was a result of long term exposure to kryptonite we might be able to convince more people to get rid of any souvenirs."

There was a flash of fire in the middle of the large round they table they were sat at. When it cleared they saw a tall muscular man with sandy brown hair dressed in a suit.

"Neville?!" Jean gasped in astonishment.

"Hello Jean." Neville smiled warmly at her. "I come at the behest of the Council. They wish you to have all the help you can get whilst Harry is AWOL."

Jean hugged him tightly as he stepped off the table. "Everyone, this is Neville Longbottom. He and Harry grew up together, Neville is the one who introduced me to Harry."

"All these years and we've never met." Scott said with surprise. "Are you forbidden from visiting?" He asked without malice.

"No, but when you live for millions of years, not seeing someone for a few hundred thousand years is the equivalent of a year or so for a mortal." He smiled. "I always wanted to meet Harry's family. But I had my own jobs to perform. There are many universes out there and there are very few Phoenixes and even less Harry's. Just the one in fact!" He smirked.

"Thank god." Scott muttered.

"You're welcome." Thor said straight-faced.

"You were never like this before Harry turned up." Scott accused Thor with narrowed eyes.

"That would be Xander's fault." Neville explained as he took a seat. "That man was like an uncle to me. It hit Harry and I hard when he passed on. We were both orphans and Xander Harris was, without a doubt, the man that taught us about family."

"Why thank you Neville, and for the record you were like a son to me."

"Xander? How are you here?" Neville asked as he shot to his feet. Standing in the doorway to the hall was Xander Harris, in the flesh… literally.

"Do you realise just how big this is? Harry is gone, not permanently, but he is out of the picture for the immediate future." Xander said with a scowl. "Harry _still_ doesn't realise just how influential and loved he is in the after life. You have to have felt it Neville… the Aspects are moving. They can feel the loss of Death and they want him back. Harry isn't just an Avatar for Love or the embodiment of Death and the Master of Magic… he is the champion for the Aspects."

"What does that mean, 'the Aspects are moving'?" Kyla asked worriedly.

"Magic and Love both have Avatars. Harry is the ultimate Avatar for magic, all others treat him as though he _is_ magic. But time has never had an Avatar before, which seems to be changing. Time needs someone to defend it as it is the most dangerous Aspect, if Time is messed with then Existence is at risk."

"Are you here to merely pass on the information?" Jean asked.

Xander smiled. "No, I'm here to lend you a hand whilst Harry is gone. I will return to the Afterlife soon after that though."


	31. Chapter 31

Clark had landed after his flight and was honestly dreading the return flight. He could have made the trip under his own power in minutes and he wouldn't have had to deal with snooty businessmen and rich people. He appreciated Lex putting him in first class but it was almost as bad as the fact that his super-hearing couldn't block out the crying baby back in coach.

He had passed through customs quickly and was checked into the most expensive hotel in the city and he had the penthouse to himself. The looks he got as he walked through the lobby and checked in were making him uncomfortable. Emma and Loki had forced him into an expensive suit, it was important that he not stand out and a young man in blue jeans and a red jacket checking into the penthouse of Tokyo's most expensive hotel would definitely raise eyebrows.

A well-dressed western businessman would easily blend in. Except Clark was quite handsome and his walk held a little bit too much power as he imitated Lionel Luthor.

It was important that he had the penthouse for the same reason he and Harry had the Penthouse in Gotham, he needed to be able to exit at night without arousing suspicion, which meant flying.

He had two missions, the first was to investigate MBI, find out all he could about the man Harry was accused of being, Takehito Asama, and what MBI did. The second was to track down Logan. Scott said he was supposed to be in Tokyo and that he was investigating the King of Terror Bruce had mentioned and MBI, Logan had called Harry urgently and had disappeared with Harry. There was also something about a Ship of the Gods, but there was even less information on that.

According to Thor, finding Logan would be like finding a specific piece of straw in a haystack. The man was just that illusive.

He spent his first day walking through the city and getting to know the immediate area. That night Superman revealed himself in the city. Tokyo's business districts and entertainment areas were just as busy at night as any other city. He stopped the usual array of disgusting crimes that Metropolis and Gotham had in spades. But as he was heading home to get some sleep he noticed a huge disturbance to the east of the city. It was like huge explosions, but what was weird was the fact that he could see water and fire in equal amounts flying around but no buildings were on fire.

He sped towards the scene to find two individuals using what seemed to be magic to try and kill each other. One seemed to be a lean young man with silver hair dressed in an all black get up of trousers and a coat with a mask over his mouth. The other was a woman… definitely not Japanese as she had long flowing blonde hair and bright blue eyes that held a haughtiness that instantly made him think of Emma.

The woman wore a short white silk dress that barely covered her butt and somehow defied gravity to contain her large breasts, over that she wore some form of black dress coat.

Clark's main problem was that he had no idea why they were fighting or who the bad one was.

He decided he needed to get their attention, the best way to do that was to make an entrance. There was already plenty of damage in the area so he didn't think his contribution would be noticed as he flew up to around two hundred feet and then shot down to the ground punching the concrete and creating a shockwave that knocked the fighters to the ground and… accidentally broke every window for two hundred metres.

Clark winced. "Oops." He muttered as he stood up and brushed the jeans of his costume down.

He saw the two combatants start to get up.

"Why are you two fighting?" He demanded in his flawless Japanese.

He was surprised when the woman started berating him using an older more traditional variation of the Japanese language, fortunately Omoikane gave him more than Japanese, and he knew _every_ language of Asia.

"What means this?" The woman demanded. "This is a battle between Sekirei and you have no place in it!"

"Battle? If you want to fight do it outside of the city. Stop causing so much damage everywhere." Clark snapped. Later Clark would grimace as he realised he had caused the most damage.

"You are a fool, you speak of things you do not know!" She said as she crossed her arms and stomped her foot. "We _will_ continue this another time Homura." She declared before she turned and leapt so high into the air that Clark thought she was flying until he saw her begin a descent and have to keep jumping.

Clark shook his head at the sight and turned back to 'Homura', he hoped he might get some answers.

Unfortunately Homura had vanished.

Clark gave the area a quick scan to see if there was anyone injured or if there was some damage that needed dealing with that might injure someone. Finding nothing he headed home to get some sleep.

* * *

"Lionel Luthor has vanished from the system." Emma scowled as she stomped into the common room the following day with Loki behind her. "He hasn't been released in any form he has simply vanished."

"I only like it when Harry makes people vanish." Xander sulked. "He has such a permanent way of doing it." He added with a grin.

"I do not like being unaware of that creatures location." Emma declared as she sat on the sofa next to Scott on the other side from Jean.

"Neither do I. We could easily follow him though." Jean suggested.

"Too dangerous." Scott shook his head. "If it was Harry or Laura then sure. But we still don't know enough about the different energy forms used in this world. Take the Green Lantern energy or Kryptonite. If they have Luthor somewhere hidden then we can't risk being caught."

"Luthor is irrelevant." Loki assured them. "He doesn't know anything that could disrupt what we do directly. We are simply his rivals in business."

"How was your first day back on this side of Death?" Lana asked Xander.

"Interesting. Especially as I have technically gone back in time as well."

"Hey! You knew Harry growing up!" Chloe said pointing at Xander accusingly.

"She's quick." Xander smirked at Neville.

"What was he like? Do you have any juicy stories on him?" She asked with a manic gleam.

"Juicy stories? You mean like the time he created the Lilly Charm? Or when he competed in the Tri-Wizard Tournament? How about when his girlfriend walked in on him cutting his own hand off repeatedly?" Xander said with a chuckle.

"You think that is bad?" Neville scoffed. "Dobby woke up to find me about to chop Harry's legs off with a chainsaw. He was _not_ pleased."

"How about the time he turned the warheads of all the worlds nuclear missiles into containers of blue jello? He turned Armageddon into a kids party." Xander laughed.

"Hermione never forgave him for that." Neville grinned.

"She never forgave me either! You should have seen the look she gave the Queen of England!"

"She never seemed to disapprove of me being involved though." Neville frowned.

"You're a Phoenix, she was still hung up on you being the embodiment of goodness." Xander waved his hand dismissively.

Chloe, Lana and Kyla just stared at the two men, gobsmacked.

"You haven't even begun to touch on what he did in _our_ world." Jean smirked.

* * *

That night Clark had some weird dreams. As any red-blooded teenager would, he often dreamt of the women in his life… even Emma. But the women in his dreams that night were different. Several were Japanese and at least one was a mere girl of maybe five years old. Both the woman and the man from the previous night had also been mixed in with them. It didn't help that they were all naked. Clark was pretty thankful that the man seemed to have his 'parts' obscured somehow.

He showered and dressed for the day before heading for the MBI tower. He wanted to get a feel for what they did and was hoping to see if he could get a tour. To that end he dressed in black casual trousers, a light blue dress shirt and a light black jacket. Casual yet smart.

His first shock of the day came when he was met at the doors.

"Mr. Kent-san. Welcome to MBI towers." The man said in heavily accented English. He was a thin man of average height in his late twenties. "I am Nutsuo Ichinomi, I am an assistant to Minaka Hiroto-sama." He bowed as he reached Clark.

Clark greeted the man in flawless Japanese. "It's good to meet you, I didn't know you were expecting me."

"You speak wonderful Japanese, Mr. Kent. No accent what so ever." Nutsuo said, he was clearly highly impressed. "We heard you were coming to Tokyo as we track all who fly to our great city."

Clark suppressed a frown at that. He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. "I was hoping to get a feel for what MBI does, you recently sent men to my home town claiming that my friend, Harry Potter, was another man. I was making a trip to meet with another friend and thought I might try and find out why you thought Harry was this, erm… 'Take' something."

"Takehito Asama." Nutsuo supplied. "We too found it interesting that no one recognised that name, especially as Harry Potter seemed to be fairly well established after so many years, but the resemblance is uncanny!" Nutsuo led him to the receptionist's desk where he commandeered a computer from one of the girls working there and brought up the file on Takehito.

Clark was not too surprised to see Harry's smiling face in the profile picture. "If I hadn't known where he was personally I could definitely see myself thinking that was Harry Potter." Clark nodded.

Clark was positive that Harry had been back in time. He now had to figure out what he had done, this was good as it gave him a place to start looking for Harry.

"Do you have anymore details on Takehito Asama? I'm interested in meeting him myself, I want to see if he is anything like Harry, or even sounds like him."

Nutsuo winced. "Ah, that might be a problem. Takehito died several years ago. Or so we believe. The President of MBI witnessed it himself and was shocked when he saw images of Harry Potter. We thought he might have faked his death to abscond with company secrets."

"Now that doesn't sound like Harry." Clark assured the man.

"Agreed, Harry Potter seems to be a man who prides himself on being an honest."

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me what MBI does? You are definitely responsible for some of the more advanced technologies that have come out of Japan."

Nutsuo smiled happily. "Of course, let me show you are lower floors, upper floors are restricted but the lower floors are just as interesting."

* * *

The phone rang at nine that morning in the Castle.

"Potter Castle, Lana speaking."

"_Moshi, Moshi. Lana Ohayou."_

Lana looked at the handset set. "Clark is that you?"

"_Hai Lana."_

"Clark… are you aware you're speaking Japanese?" She asked warily.

"_Oh… sorry Lana, I didn't realise."_

She could practically hear Clark blushing on the other side. "Have you spoken a word of English since you landed?" She giggled.

"_I honestly don't know. I know someone spoke to me in English today, but they had a strong accent and were a bit broken, so I used Japanese. They said I didn't have an accent though."_ He offered.

"Glad to hear it. Any news?"

"_Yes, but I would prefer not to tell you yet, can you ask Emma or Jean to contact me with their special methods?"_

"Immediately?"

"As soon as possible, I was about to go out and patrol."

"In the middle of the- wait… time differences… never mind. I'll go and find one of them now. Talk to you later Clark."

"_Bye Lana."_

"Mushi mushi!" Lana giggled.

"_Lana, you just said 'bugs' twice."_

"Oh… why did you say that when I answered the phone?"

"_Ask one of the others, it might be easier to understand without telephone static."_ Clark chuckled.

* * *

Clark was putting his clothes in the laundry hamper when he heard Jean's telepathic call in his head as she used the Cerebro unit to boost her power.

"_Hey Clark, I hear you've forgotten how to speak English."_ She teased.

Clark rolled his eyes as he sat down on the bed in his costume. _"That was not my fault, I didn't exactly learn Japanese, Omoikane simply made me know it instinctively." _ He responded mentally.

"_Well, we straightened Lana out on the whole bugs thing."_

Clark laughed. _"Did you tell her why the Japanese say Moshi Moshi as a greeting?"_

"_We did, she found it interesting, we found her in the Torch after school engrossed in Japanese culture."_

"_It is nice here, even if it is a little lonely."_

"_Remember what Kyla said, make friends. Aphrodite seemed to expect you to find someone, maybe multiple someones." _ She smirked.

"_Speaking of finding someone, I interrupted a huge fight last night. There was a man and a woman, the man was throwing fire and the woman was using water, it was a lot like how you use magic. The man was Japanese with silver hair but the woman was blond with blue eyes."_

"_But they only used fire or water?"_ Jean clarified.

"_Right."_

"_They could be elementals, or magicals with a special gift. Harry's gift is healing whilst Neville's was plants. Incidentally, Xander and Neville have both arrived here to help out whilst Harry is missing."_

"_The Phoenix and Harry's dad? Isn't Xander dead?"_

"_He got sent back in the flesh by the powers on the other side. Apparently whatever has caused Harry to vanish has upset all the other Aspects and the Afterlife. They all want Harry back and are a step away from pulling out all the stops to do so."_

"_That sounds like a very bad idea."_

"_It could be, which is why they only sent Xander and Neville. Xander warned us that the other Aspects are choosing their own Avatars as Harry is unable to protect them as he usually does."_

"_I hope they're as nice as Aphrodite."_

"_As do we. Now, do you have any word on Harry or Logan?"_

"_Harry was definitely at MBI as a lead scientist. For whatever reason he went back in time and changed his name."_

"_He would have had to. Harry Potter couldn't exactly be seen to be in two places otherwise. What about Logan?"_

"_I have absolutely no idea where to start."_ Clark admitted with a sigh of defeat.

"_Track down all you can about Harry's other persona. If Logan also went back in time he may have changed his name as well."_

"_Ok, that helps. I was going to start that tomorrow."_

"_Why did you want us to call you telepathically?"_ Jean asked curiously.

"_MBI was expecting me. I was met as I walked through the doors and greeted by name. There was a report on the local news; they have been buying up every building and business in the city including this hotel. I'm worried they might have bugged my room."_

"_Ok, good call. Either Emma or I will contact you at this time everyday to catch up, ok?"_

"_Thanks Jean. I'm heading out for a patrol, I'll talk to you later."_

* * *

Clark's patrol was much quieter that night. There were no magical battles to worry about, just the standard crooks. Many seemed shocked to see Superman in their city… even more were surprised when he spoke in perfect Japanese and dropped them off at the local police stations.

His dreams were once again filled with images of the same men and women.

His morning was ruined when the door to his hotel room was blown off its hinges by a torrent of water that drenched him.

"Where art the foul monkey that thinks he can be my master?"

Clark stared at the blonde woman in disbelief. This was the same woman from the other night who had been fighting and was in his dreams. He had no idea how she had tracked him down or why.

"Can I help you?" Clark asked as he hopped out of bed and pulled on his soggy trousers.

"You! You can die human!" She snarled. "WATER _DRAGON_!" She shouted as literal dragons made of water shot out from behind her.

Clark ducked underneath them and moved in closer.

"Look I don't know who you are but this is a private hotel. Now I suggest you behave yourself whilst we wait for the police."

The woman was shocked when she found Clark less than a foot from her. Which is what Clark was aiming for as both combatants from the night before were only using ranged attacks.

"Away from me monkey!" She said as she danced back quickly.

"You came to me!" Clark exclaimed. "I was just sleeping. If you'll excuse me I have to go and see if the police have arrived yet." He said as he pushed past her and into the hallway.

The woman stared at him, stunned before her face grew red with anger. "Do not turn you back on me boy!"

Clark rolled his eyes as he hit the button for the elevator. This woman might actually be bi-polar; she couldn't seem to make up her mind.

Down in the lobby the police were streaming in.

"There is a strange woman who has just blown the door off my room, she has also threatened my life." Clark informed the lead officer.

The man shared a look with the Hotel Manager. "We were told that _you_ caused the damage and brought the woman here."

"Who told you that?"

"There are several witnesses Mr. Kent." The Manager said snootily.

"Well why don't we just check the security recordings and key card records." Clark suggested to the officer.

"The cameras were down for maintenance over night."

"And the cameras on the streets from the other buildings?"

"There was a city wide power failure." The officer said, but he was clearly nervous.

Clark frowned at them. This was clearly a setup. He had a feeling that someone wanted him out of the hotel and that the Manager and the police were both working for that person.

"I am afraid I must ask you to come with us sir. We will need to question you at the station." The officer said.

"Fine, let me get my coat shoes and ID."

"We will need to search your belongings and take them as evidence."

"For being accused of trashing a room?"

"MBI reports that you also vandalised their building as well."

That sealed it for Clark. MBI had to be behind it. They already owned most of the city after all.

"Would it help if I just left the hotel and promised not to come back?"

"I'm sorry sir, we need to take you in for questioning."

Normally Clark was ok with helping the authorities and happy to cooperate. But he didn't think he would get out of this easily, or at least not legally.

Clark pushed the lead officer lightly causing him to fly into the other five officers behind him, he then ran at human speeds for the staircase. He then sped up to his room where he saw the woman was gone and packed his stuff. He transformed into his costume and placed his belongings into his cape that Harry had enchanted to act as a storage area similar to how he was able to hide his hammer his hammer like Thor did.

He then sped out the window just as the police were picking themselves off the floor.

Clark Kent was officially a fugitive in Tokyo.

* * *

"Do we know anything about the blonde woman?" Scott asked. The group was having an emergency meeting at lunch. Just Scott, Emma, Jean, Neville and Xander.

"Clark didn't seem to think she was actually with the police or hotel." Jean answered. "He also thinks she might be an alien as she referred to him as a human."

"At least his secret identity is still intact." Scott said with relief. "What's his plan?"

"He wants to stay under the radar, he's just asked us to try and clear up the legal side of things. He doesn't want to get involved with the police in case MBI has a way to deal with him."

"I'll get Loki on to the Tokyo Police." Scott nodded. "School ends this week so we will have more free time."

"Especially as Lex and Helen have insisted on postponing the wedding till everyone wakes up and Harry and Clark are back." Emma added.

"I might see about heading over to Japan myself and seeing if I can't help out in some minor way." Jean said. "At the very least I can see if I can sense Logan."

"What's Clark doing about accommodation?" Neville asked.

"We have a house available in Tokyo. It's registered under a fake name. Clark knows about it and is going to stay there."

"Fidelius?" Xander asked.

"And every other protection Harry and anyone else can come up with." Scott confirmed. "In fact the only thing missing is the blessing and protection of the gods."

"I will see if Loki would be willing to go over and teach Clark what she taught Thor."

"Speaking of Thor, what are we going to do about Odin's daughter?" Jean asked suddenly. "She's nearly ready to be born into the world but only Harry can retrieve her."

"I'll go and speak with Odin myself, see what he suggests." Neville offered as he vanished in a flash of flame.

Xander stared fondly at the now empty chair. "Seems like only yesterday he was making Minerva pale at the realisation that there was such a thing as a human phoenix."

* * *

The house was not a house.

It was a mansion.

Or at least the Japanese equivalent of one.

Walls divided the rooms and sliding doors made of wood and paper. The lighting was electrical and the bathroom facilities were divided in to the traditional rooms. Outside, the grounds were at least 300 acres. There were all the standard amenities including a television and computer system along with a phone. Clark wasn't sure about using the phone but he would try it out later.

He stashed his belongings in one of the smaller rooms, as far as he was concerned this was Harry's house and he was just housesitting. He then headed out to continue his research.

Clark's next task in discovering what happened to Harry was to investigate the address listed on the profile Nutsuo had shown him. A place called Izumo Inn located in the North of the city. That was annoying as he was actually in the outskirts of the city to the west in the Nishitama District. Fortunately there was a car available to him with GPS so he wouldn't have to spend all day on public transport… just most of the day.

The drive was long and boring, the radio station kept him informed of local news… although the music wasn't exactly his thing.

He was driving past a railway station when everything came to a crashing halt. Literally. The window shattered as a girl fell through his windshield and onto his lap, the car swerved as Clark lost his grip on the wheel and the car smashed into a lamppost.

"Are you ok? Can you hear me?" Clark asked frantically as he began checking her vitals and scanning her with x-ray vision.

He was shocked when the girl groaned and started moving on his lap where she was lying, her legs still halfway out the window. "That hurt." She moaned.

Clark was unsure how she had managed to survive without breaking any bones, especially as she had ripped the steering wheel off its column when she landed. She didn't seem to have a scratch on her.

"I'll bet." Clark muttered. "Listen, we need to call an ambulance and get you properly checked out."

The girl's eyes snapped open at that point. "Oh no! We have to run!" She said frantically as she scrambled to get out of the car using the windshield exit she had just created.

It doesn't matter how invulnerable to attack you are, getting kicked in the balls unaware is going to hurt… and Clark was experiencing that right now thanks to an errant knee from the girl trying to get out. He felt like he was about to throw up as he managed to get the door open. Other people were milling about looking at the strange girl standing on the bonnet of his car as the westerner groped himself.

Clark was vaguely aware of this as he took deep breaths and let the shining sun heal him up. That's when he realised the girl was shouting at someone high up. He looked up just in time to see two other girls in tight binding outfits, almost like bondage wear; throw a bolt of electricity at the girl.

He grabbed her round the waist and pulled her out of the way and to the ground.

"You saved me!" The girl said as she looked up into Clark's eyes, she looked to be very flushed as her chest heaved with her panting breath.

"Who are they and why are they attacking you?" Clark asked as he helped her up and looked up at the rooftops for the two girls.

"Just fight us!" One of them shouted down. "It'll be much better for you."

"I can't fight you! At least… not yet." The girl responded. She then grabbed Clark by the hand and hauled him off his feet causing him to fly through the air as she ran at an incredible speed.

Clark found his flight interesting, he was used to flying thanks to someone else what with Scott and Harry throwing him off the tower all that time. But this was the lowest he had ever flown. He took the time to measure her speed; she was managing around five to eight seconds per 100 metres. He didn't want to give away his own powers so he simply buoyed himself up with his own flight capabilities until she came to a stop at the river. He let himself fall to the ground with a thud.

"I think we lost them." She said as she looked around carefully. Then she saw Clark getting to his feet. "Oh my! I'm so sorry, I just dragged you, a stranger, like that!"

"How about we start with names?" Clark suggested as he brushed his jeans to get the dust off. "I'm Clark Kent."

The girl blushed. "I'm Musubi."

Clark finally got a look at the girl, she was about 5 foot 3 with brown hair cut to below her chin but with a long braided ponytail that went to the back of her knees. She wore a white shirt with flared sleeves embroidered with red thread and a very _very_ short skirt.

"Nice to meet you Musubi. Now, why were those girls attacking you?"

"Because we are Sekirei. It's what we do." She explained matter-of-factly.

"You're a bird?" Clark asked, the literal translation for 'Sekirei' was 'wagtail' a small bird.

Musubi giggled. "No silly, I'm a girl, a special girl. There are 108 of us and we are all unique and special."

"And some of you can shoot lightning out of your hands?"

"Uh huh." She smiled as she nodded and bounced on the balls of her feet. It didn't interesting things to her impressive bust. "I'm a fist type Sekirei."

"Meaning…"

"I fight with my fists?" She offered questioningly.

Clark had a sudden thought. "Can some of you shoot fire or water?"

Musubi just shrugged. "I don't really know any other Sekirei, Karasuba fights with a sword. Kaho fights with a long pole with a sword on the end."

"A naginata?"

Musubi gave small smile and a shrug. Clark couldn't blame her; he blamed Omoikane for knowing that one.

"Ok, I'm still not sure-" Clark stopped as the girl collapsed onto the grass.

* * *

"Hello, Potter Castle."

"_Erm… hi, who is this?"_

"Xander Harris, at your service!" Xander grinned as he sat back in the armchair next to the phone. Everyone was sleeping and he was catching up on various TV shows… he could sleep when he was dead… again.

"_Oh, right. Harry's dad… it seems weird that Harry actually has a dad."_

"I take it this is Clark?" Xander smirked.

"_Sorry, yes. Are Scott, Jean or Emma there?"_

"I _really_ don't think you want me to get them." Xander warned.

"_Why?"_ Clark asked worriedly. There was no telling what horrors had turned up in Smallville.

"Check your watch and account for the time difference."

There was a moment's silence. _"I am really sorry for waking you!"_

"No worries, I was already up, just catching up on some golden oldies on the idiot box. Now what has you forgetting the time difference and calling now?"

"_A girl landed on my lap… through the windshield of my car. She's fine but two other girls who could shoot lightning were chasing her. They call themselves Sekirei."_

"Isn't that a bird?"

"_That's what I said, but I am guessing it's a codename."_ Clark agreed.

"Ok, it's weird, granted… but that doesn't explain you're call."

"_She kissed me-"_

"Ah, you want to brag."

"_No!"_

"You want to make your girlfriend jealous."

There was another pause. _"I think I see why Harry is insane."_ Came the dry response.

"Mission accomplished." Xander said smugly. "Ok, Clark, what happened with the kiss?"

"_She began to glow and wings of light sprouted out her back. Now she is calling me her Ashikabi and saying we are bound together forever."_

"Ashikabi? That's a new word, my Japanese is rusty though." Xander mused thoughtfully.

"_It seems to mean something along the lines of Master or a specific part of the bond. The thing is I was dreaming about this girl and several other people I'd never met as soon as I landed in Tokyo. These Sekirei were sent out by MBI to find their Ashikabi."_

"MBI? Ok, now we're getting somewhere." Xander said as he sat up eagerly. "Did she say anything else about MBI?"

"_This all ties into MBI."_ Clark said. _"There are 108 of these Sekirei with varying powers. They were released into the city in groups to find their Ashikabi and then seek each other out and engage in one-on-one duels. It's called the Sekirei Plan, there is supposed to be a prize at the end for the Ashikabi and the Sekirei who win. All of this was set up by Minaka Hiroto, the President of MBI."_

"Damn." Xander whispered. "Listen Clark, you should probably devote a bit of time to this, you are connected to these people somehow so you need to track down the others from your dreams. It sounds like the sort of thing Harry would get involved in to try and stop. But as he had to go back in time he would have been bound by various constraints to not change the overall future or standout."

"_That's what I was thinking. I was on my way to the last known residence listed on Takehito's work profile when the girl landed in my lap. I'm going to try again today."_

"Good plan. I'll let the others know in the morning. For now I have to get back to America's Next Top Model, Tyra's about to lay into some- hello? Clark?" Xander just grinned as he hung up his end and got back to Two and a Half Men.

* * *

When Clark made it to the kitchen the next morning he found Musubi standing at the counter making breakfast and wearing one of his tight white dress shirts.

_Just_ his tight white dress shirt.

"Musubi, I think we need to take you shopping today." Clark said as he quickly zipped back upstairs to retrieve a dressing gown that he could use to cover the practically naked girl.

"Oh… why?" She asked as she took the dressing gown and placed it on the back of a chair.

"Because you only have the one set of clothes… aren't you going to put the dressing gown on?" He asked, he was used to seeing Emma walk around half naked, but that was the top half… not the bottom.

"I thought you wanted it cleaned." She asked with slight confusion.

"Musubi… you are practically naked, you should really cover up, especially if we have visitors."

Musubi blushed slightly and looked despondent. "Does my lack of modesty displease you?"

Clark had no idea how to respond to that. She was a beautiful girl but he was raised to respect people, especially women. Musubi seemed upset that he didn't want to see her body.

Clark decided that if he could handle Emma then he could survive Musubi… but he'd remember to buy Emma something nice. She provided good training.

* * *

Clark decided that they would head to the store for clothes for Musubi on the way to Izumo Inn. They found a decent one in a shopping district near the Inn. It was a standard store and Clark just told her to pick what she liked. He then had to amend that to what fit her as she came back with several outfits that were too small.

Clark decided they should probably change tactics and took her over to his worst nightmare… the lingerie section. He knew what breasts were (thank you Emma) but he had no idea how to pick a bra based on cup size or what all the measurements meant. Musubi knew her own measurements but she had never bought her own clothes and was just as lost.

"Maybe we could ask someone for help." Clark suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Musubi agreed enthusiastically. She immediately turned around to a nearby girl of about eighteen. "Hi, can you help me choose a some bras and panties, please?"

Clark covered his face with his hands. "I meant a shop clerk." He muttered behind his hands.

"Oh." Musubi blushed.

The girl just laughed. "I can help your girlfriend." She said easily. "My name's Yukari, Yukari Sahashi."

"Hi! I'm Musubi and this is Clark Kent. He's my Ashikabi." Musubi declared.

"Ashikabi? What's that?" Yukari asked.

"I wish I knew." Clark sighed. "But honestly, if you're willing to help Musubi out then that would be great."

Clark was a little worried when Yukari stared at Musubi's chest. It was a lot like how Dani would stare at Amara, or Mindee would stare at him.

"Come on Musubi, let's go and find some outfits that will make your boyfriend drool!" Yukari said as she grabbed Musubi by the hand and dragged her off.

Clark breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he noticed an old lady glaring at him.

Then he realised he was standing in the lingerie section.

He quickly bolted for the door.

It was around two in the afternoon. They had spent the better part of the day travelling into Tokyo just to get to the clothes shop. The journey was long and arduous and Clark was glad to stretch his legs. He took note of the various shops and restaurants on the street as he planned to take Musubi and Yukari to dinner as a thank you to Yukari for helping them.

He noticed two girls in some sort of maid costume handing out balloons and flyers so he approached them to see if he could get some local info.

That's when he realised who he was staring at. The two girls who had attacked Musubi. And one of them noticed him.

"Hibiki, look! It's that idiot who rescued that Sekirei yesterday." She said to what appeared to be her twin sister.

"You! Where's the girl?" Hibiki demanded as she stomped towards Clark who started backing up and looking for an exit off the street.

"Clark! We forgot to ask how much to spend."

Clark winced as he turned to see both Musubi _and_ Yukari jogging up behind him.

"Looks like we get to finish off from yesterday." Hibiki smirked.

"Girls… run." Clark instructed as he grabbed them both by a hand and started running just as a bolt of lightning flew past his ear.

"Oh my god! Are they throwing electricity around?" Yukari gasped as she tried to keep up with Clark.

"Lightning." Clark corrected absently as he scanned the streets. He saw and alley and immediately changed course.

"Clark, this was not a good move." Yukari said nervously as she noticed the alley was a dead end.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you both." Musubi stated as determinedly took a defensive position between her friends and the entrance of the alley.

"Musubi, let me handle this." Clark said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"But this is a Sekirei battle." She said in confusion.

"No, this is two individuals attacking someone weaker than them." He moved in front of them as the two girls chasing them rounded the corner. "Ladies, I suggest you turn around and leave."

Hibiki laughed derisively. "Are you hearing this Hikari?" She asked her sister. "This boy thinks he can order us around. Well listen up brat, this is between us and that Sekirei, unless you want to get fried… get lost."

"Please leave." Clark repeated calmly.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" She threw out her hand sending a bolt of lightning at Clark.

Clark raised his hand and caught the bolt causing all four girls in the alley to gasp in shock. "I warned you." He said sadly as he hurled the bolt straight back at the two girls, infusing it with his divinity as Thor had taught him. The blast sent the girls flying into the air to land at the end of the alley.

"What the hell is he?" Hikari asked blearily as she struggled to her feet.

"I don't know, but if he can send our lightning back at us maybe we should regroup." Hibiki winced as she rubbed her bruised backside.

"Agreed." Hikari turned to glare at Clark. "We'll finish this another day!" She declared before both girls leapt into the air and onto the adjacent rooftops and disappearing.

Clark sighed and turned towards Musubi and Yukari only to find them staring at him with open mouths.

"What the hell are you?" Yukari asked in awe.

"God of Thunder?" He offered weakly.

"You're Raijin?"

"Norse God of Thunder." Clark corrected. Both girls frowned. "Vikings? There are gods for various cultures and I'm a western god." Clark tried.

The girls looked even more confused.

"Just call me Clark. I can control thunder and lightning."

"Ok." Musubi said happily as she skipped up to Clark and grabbed his arm.

"You ok Yukari?" Clark asked the still gawping girl.

"Oh… sure. Just been attacked by lightning throwing girls and saved by a guy who can catch it and throw it back. I'm perfectly fine." She said with a hint of sarcasm.

Clark just smiled. If she could pull out that attitude he knew she'd be fine. "Come on, let's finish shopping and then I'll buy us all some dinner."

* * *

Clark and Musubi found they had a new friend in Yukari who found his secret identity and the Sekirei business both interesting and disgusting… the Sekirei fighting, not the Sekirei themselves or Clark being Superman. Yukari was actually a huge Superman fan and pestered Clark for an autograph.

"I don't have a Superman signature." Clark shrugged.

"Well make one up!" Yukari ordered as she pulled out a pen and notepad from her bag. "What are you going to do when little kids meet Superman and want an autograph? Are you going to disappoint them?"

"It's not like I actually stroll down a red carpet greeting people. I find and stop crooks and criminals, hand them over to the police and then leave."

"So if you dropped off a criminal at a police station and walked outside to find a bunch of young school kids who saw you and wanted an autograph… what would you do?" She challenged.

"Leave out the back way?" Clark tried.

"Sign hero." Yukari glared.

Clark reluctantly picked up the pen and signed 'Superman'.

"Date it."

Clark glared at her but did so.

Yukari took it back beamed happily. "I have the official first ever autograph from Superman."

"Harry will never let me hear the end of this. Nor will Dani. Oh god! What if Kyla finds out?!" Clark began to panic.

"Is Kyla your girlfriend? I thought Musubi was your girlfriend."

"I'm his Sekirei." Musubi said as though it explained everything.

"Kyla is… well yes, she is my girlfriend. She's also my soul mate… well one of them anyway."

"How many soul mates can you have?" Yukari asked incredulously.

"Lots. But I only have one at the moment, my friends and family think I might have a few though."

"But Musubi isn't one of them?"

"Not at the moment… I don't know for sure. Something happened when she bonded to me and the person who can confirm it is the one person I am in Tokyo to find."

"Oh? Who's that?"

"A man by the name of Harry Potter. But when he was in Tokyo he went by Takehito Asama."

"Takehito?!"

"You know him?"

"I knew him. He was friends with my mum."

"Huh, maybe it wasn't pure chance Musubi and I ran into you."

"Takehito was an adjuster. But I never really got to meet him." Musubi confessed.

"I was really young when he died. His best friend, Seo, taught me how to defend myself." Yukari admitted

"Do you still know how to find this 'Seo'?" Clark asked eagerly.

"Sure, he works at the city arboretum."

"Can you introduce us?"

"You want to go now?"

"Tomorrow. We still need to get to Izumo Inn."

"You want to see Miya, Takehito's widow." Yukari nodded in understanding.

"Excuse me!?" Clark asked as his eyebrows shot to his hairline.

"You didn't know he was married?"

"Yes… to several women in America… and one on an island somewhere… but not in Japan." Clark paused in thought. "But there was a soul mate around here, maybe it's her."

"I don't know Miya. I just know of her." Yukari explained. "Mum and Takehito both spoke about her, it was obvious Takehito liked her… I may have been a bit bratty about it." She blushed. "I was hoping he would get together with my mum."

"I now know I need to speak to Miya, your mum and this Seo." Clark sighed. He really hoped one of them had the answers he needed.

* * *

**A/N:**

Ok, so I don't usually do Author Notes but there have been a few questions raised about the origins of some of my ideas. They were reasonable questions and I figure thee is no reason I can't tell you what I was going for. Be warned, there will be spoilers but they will be at the end in a clearly marked section.

1. What am I pulling my ideas from? Comics, Smallville, movies or tv series?

The answer is all of the above. I generally use movies as major events and then pick and choose for other events. Some of you may have noticed that episodes aren't covered such as the return of Tina Greer. I didn't feel these eps were necessary and I didn't want to engineer an event for Tina to break out of the dungeon... it just seemed illogical.

So Whitney may have died in combat or not. I haven't put anything in because he may be useful later. It would be big news for a small town so lets just assume he is out there fighting and learning to be a decent human being.

You will also notice that I used Dan Turpin from the comics and not the Smallville series. He's just a character like Captain Sawyer, he doesn't play a big role and it will become more obvious further into the story why that particular episode of Smallville won't happen.

2. Aphrodite. Thor and the Amazons.

Whenever I use a character I try to research them. I have not read any of the DC comics except some of the new 52. I researched the Amazons of DC and they were created by Aphrodite to be her emissaries of love and compassion. Hippolyta made the mistake of trusting Hercules and he and his men raped the lot of them. A truly horrific story. As a result Hippolyta hated all men with her subjects.

Thor is characterised as a bit of a womaniser... I made him more brash and a bit of a drunk to boot. This was useful to me so I could bring in Marvel Thor. (And have Clark cry: HAVE AT THEE!)

3. Sekirei?

This was something I had always wanted to do with having either Clark or Harry fulfill Minato's role. Let's face it, based on their canon personalities both would be overwhelmed and confused by a bunch of women claiming him as their master.

Instead of creating a new story I came up with ways for MBI and Minaka to be a foe that could stump even Harry.

The hard part for me was including the crossover in a believable way... then I thought: Clark Kent is an invulnerable being and Harry Potter is Death... believable went out the window back in the 30's.

I tried to make fit with this story though.

Incidentally... Minato does not exist in this story.

4. Screwing around with personalities... like Joseph Willowbrook.

If people can make Snape likeable then I can make Joseph Willowbrook a bit of an idiot. It made the story work and he soon came around. I do this with several characters to make them fit my story... like Tess. Because Lorna got to Tess before Lionel or evil Lex, Tess is a decent person with a great support structure. She can be as ambitious as hell but that doesn't make her evil.

I would consider Harry as way out of character by now, but hopefully that has been explained over the course of the series. My favourite scenes of Harry Potter are from the movies when Harry is dosed up on luck potion.

********** SPOILERS **********

5. Kara, Lois and others.

Without giving too much away... Lois will arrive as she does in the series and for the same reasons... BUT CHLOE IS A PHOENIX... yes I know... just read.

Kara... I am about halfway through season 4 of Smallville and Kara is not here yet... I don't expect to wait till the events of the series so she might arrive earlier.

Kandorians... I have ideas and will probably use them unless new ones hit me. Those events will occur.

Darkseid... he may show up earlier... why? See the next section.

6. Where I will be pulling my ideas from.

I have never read any DC comics other than the NEW 52. I came in late to the game and DC doesn't have a digital subscription service like Marvel Unlimited.

You will see elements from various comics and tv shows instead of the series, as such, certain elements of the series will be dropped completely.

Eventually the story won't follow any of the series... that will probably mean it is coming to an end soon. Won't be for a while as I am only on season 4 and I have plenty in my head.

7. What do you want? The whole thing now?

Tough... I post a chapter a day... expect today because I want to post this chapter and the questions. If I posted the whole lot now you would be stuck with anything to read for months. I've been writing this since May 2012... I have no idea if I will be still going by 2014 but I hope not.

I write my stories to entertain myself... if you guys read and enjoy it that is great. My favourite review so far has been one who told me they laughed at something in every chapter. Not bad for someone who suffers from severe depression and agoraphobia.

New chapter tomorrow... if I get more reviews with questions that aren't too specific then I might do another section like this.

Also... my PM's are disabled because I struggle with social interactions... I haven't left my house in nearly a decade unless it was for a medical appointment... it isn't a slight against anyone... just my poor damaged mind.


	32. Chapter 32

Yukari had agreed to meet them tomorrow, she didn't want to go to Izumo Inn as she was aware that Miya didn't like her mother and wasn't sure why. She wasn't supposed to know her mother worked for MBI but she had accidentally discovered that out when she was a small child when she discovered Minaka Hiroto was her father. Tomorrow she would take them to meet Seo.

This left Harry and Musubi standing in front of the doors of Izumo Inn waiting for someone to answer. Clark kept glancing at the large tree in the corner of the grounds. He felt a distinct pull towards it.

It became too much and he walked over, feeling the pull get even stronger and his chest get tighter. He placed a hand on the trunk of the tree and everything changed.

He found himself in a large forest; everything was tinged with a haze of green. In front of him on the ground was the small girl from his dreams with deep golden hair. She wore a simple off-white dress with sandals. She was sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees snuffling softly.

Despite this, it appeared to be more of a dream or memory.

"Hello there." Clark said softly as he slowly knelt down in front of the girl. She seemed to be scared and frightened.

"Are you my big brother?" She asked as she peered up at him through wet eyelashes.

"I don't think so. Do you know where your mommy or daddy is?"

"I don't have anyone. Takami told me to run and now I can't find anyone." She said in distress.

"Don't worry, I'll find you." Clark promised her. "You just need to do one thing for me. I want you to shout 'Big Brother Clark' over and over again until I find you. Can you do that for me?" He asked as he cupped her cheek and rubbed her temple with his thumb just like he knew Mindee liked as a child.

The girl nodded.

"Be brave for me and I'll be right there with you." Clark assured her.

The little girl climbed to her feet and clenched her fists with a determined expression. "I will be very brave."

"Good girl. Now start shouting."

* * *

"I have to go Miya, Minaka sent out a text to all the Ashikabis. The bastard is using 108 as- oh… hello."

"Hi, I'm Musubi!" She said happily as the door opened to reveal a woman in white and purple Japanese garments and what appeared to be a slender man dressed all in black.

"What can I do to help you?" The woman asked with a kind smile.

"Oh, Clark wanted to speak to you about Takehito. But right now he is talking to that tree." She said matter-of-factly as she pointed at the motionless Clark who still had his hand on the tree.

"Talking to a tree?" The man asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is the tree talking back?"

"I can't hear it, but Clark is very special. He's my Ashikabi." She said proudly.

"Ahh." The man nodded.

"He is just _talking_ to the tree, right?" The woman asked worriedly.

The man peered closer. "Yes, he is." He assured her with a smirk.

The woman just glared at him. "Don't you have somewhere to be Kagari?"

The man shivered and walked off down the path and out of sight.

Clark suddenly collapsed to the ground with a groan.

"Clark!" Musubi cried as she hurried over with Miya on her tail.

"I'm ok. Musubi, can you wait here? There's a young girl in trouble. Is it ok if she waits here?" He turned to Miya.

"You would trust your Sekirei with me so easily?" She frowned.

"You loved Takehito?"

"With all my heart." She nodded, her frown getting deeper at the personal question.

"And he loved you? Told you who he really was?"

The frown darkened this time. "Who are you?" Miya demanded.

Clark gave her a small smile. "Death's Apprentice. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Miya and Musubi watched in amazement as Clark shot into the air and out of sight.

"Wow, he can jump higher than I can!" Musubi smiled excitedly.

"He isn't jumping." Miya said quietly. "He's flying."

* * *

Clark hovered over the city of Tokyo with his eyes closed as he listened for the phrase and the little girl's voice. Laura had taught him how to focus on a specific area and he decided to start with all the parks. It didn't take long to before he picked up the girl screaming for him.

Within seconds he was standing at the entrance of the city arboretum. At the gates there were several MBI armoured vehicles in flames and the man who had shot flames the other night was fighting a woman shooting ice. Clark didn't have time for them at the moment as he had to get to the girl. He zipped past them and through the gates; he stopped on the other side and began searching the area with his x-ray vision.

"You another one of those punks come for the Green Girl?"

Clark spun around and saw an older man with long sideburns. He was wearing a leather jacket and a cowboy hat. In his mouth was an unlit cigar. The hat was pulled down over the man's eyes, the brim hiding them from view.

What really caught his attention were the two scantily clad girls standing on either side… Hikari and Hibiki.

"I don't know who the Green Girl is. I'm looking for a scared little girl, I suggest you stay out of my way, your friends can assure you that it's a good thing."

"He's right Seo, our powers are useless against him." Hibiki whispered loudly.

Clark heard it though. "You're Seo? I've been looking for you. I'm Clark Kent, I was-"

"I know who you are kid. How do you know about the girl?"

"I spoke to her. She called to me through a tree."

Seo just chuckled. "Sounds like little Ku. Ok kid, let's go, maybe she'll actually let me through now that you're here." He said as he began to lead the way.

Clark looked at the girls who just shrugged and headed off to overtake Seo. Clark jogged up to Seo. "Why wouldn't she let you through?"

Seo just chuckled. "Do I look like the type of guy kids like? Especially little girls? Nah, Kusano is a good girl and she wouldn't associate with ruffians like me."

"How far away is she?"

"Just a few hundred metres. Who are the other Sekirei you've got? Smells like Musubi… you been playing with little Yukari?" Seo growled menacingly.

"How-"

"The nose kid. You should know by now that you can't fool it."

"How did you know Takehito?" Clark asked.

Seo smirked. "I'm his adopted brother."

"Neville?"

"His other adopted brother… aside from you of course." Seo lifted the brim of his hat, revealing his whole face to Clark.

"Logan?!"

"One and the same kid."

"The others have been trying to contact you!"

"I figured as much, but Minaka's got the city locked down. I didn't want to reveal my true identity, that would make me an even bigger target."

"Musubi is with Miya. There are two other Sekirei at the gates fighting, I think one is called Homura, he shoots fire, the other was shooting ice."

"Akitsu." Logan said sadly. "Harry's own Ashikabi. Minaka and his bastards messed with her badly. But that's a story for later. Kusano is in there." He said as he indicated what looked like a cave made from trees and plants.

Clark looked with his x-ray vision. "Damn, there's someone else in there."

He sped forward into the cave-like plants quickly knocking the strange woman with a scythe to the ground.

He stood there glaring at the woman.

"You really came for me."

Clark looked down and saw the girl, Kusano, staring up at him with wide eyes. "Of course I did. You needed me." Clark said as he knelt down in front of her.

He smiled as she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his neck.

"Get away from her! That Sekirei belongs to my master." Clark looked up and saw the woman with scythe bearing down on him Kusano. Clark swung around so that Kusano was huddled in his chest and allowed the scythe to hit his back.

Clark screamed in pain as the blade dug deep into space between his left shoulder blade and spine.

"Stupid human. You should have never touched her." The woman sneered as she backed off.

Clark carefully lowered Kusano to the ground. "Stay very small and keep your eye closed, ok?"

"Kusano, come here, girl." Kusano and Clark looked up to see Logan and the twins standing a few feet away.

"Go to him, he'll keep you safe." Clark assured her.

She looked at him with complete trust before struggling to her feet and padding over to Logan who picked her up and held her at his waist.

"Beat her until her crest vanishes on the back of her neck. She won't die but she will be put out of commission." Logan instructed. "Until Harry gets back at least."

Clark just nodded as he watched Logan leave with Kusano and the twins.

His back was killing him, but he could feel his body healing itself. He really wished it was daylight as that would speed things up, as it was he intended to fly out of orbit for a few minutes after he had dealt with the scythe girl.

"Don't go too far Seo. My master _will_ have that girl." The woman taunted.

"I'll give you one chance. Surrender and I won't hurt you."

"There's only one human I answer to and it isn't you." She spat.

She charged Clark again with her scythe, but this time Clark slipped to the side and pushed her forward, snatching the scythe out of her hands as she passed and sending her crashing into the walls made of plants.

"My scythe!"

Clark snapped it over his knee and tossed the handle away before throwing the blade at the ground with all his might.

It disappeared with an explosion of dust, but the weapon that could hurt him was out of reach for now.

"I'll kill you for that."

Clark couldn't help but snort at that comment. "You mean you weren't trying before?"

Her face turned red before she screamed and charged him.

Clark had been unsure on just how much force would take this woman out. She was very strong and his previous moves had been meant to knock her out. But then he remembered that Logan was nearby and he was a wizard.

He once again side stepped but this time he aimed for her lower back and slammed a knife handed hit at her lower back.

There was a sickening crack followed by a horrifying scream as the woman fell to the ground in agony.

Clark walked up to the paralysed woman and flicked the back of her head hard.

The screaming stopped.

Clark felt sick as he turned and walked outside to where Kusano was sleeping in Hibiki's arms, her head nestled on her breasts.

"She's out. I broke her back, do you think you can fix it?" He asked Logan.

"Sure kid." Logan nodded. "Hikari, you take credit for the win." He instructed. Hikari nodded and followed Logan into the cave.

"Did she hear any of the screaming?" Clark asked Hibiki worriedly.

"No, Seo made her fall asleep as soon as he picked her up."

"Good." Clark said in relief.

"What are you?" Hibiki asked curiously. "Not even Seo can handle our lightning like you do."

Clark just smirked. "I'm the Norse God of Thunder."

* * *

Clark thought he was definitely getting closer to finding Harry. Logan and Miya knew each other and they both knew Harry. Miya seemed to have trouble accepting that Harry, or Takehito, was actually Death.

"He told me he was Death, the Master of Magic and an Avatar of Love." Miya said with fond smile of remembrance. "I thought he was trying to make me laugh. It's what drew me to him. He taught me to laugh."

"And I told you he was telling the truth. He's out there somewhere, either we find a way to bring him back or we wait for him to get to us on his own." Logan said.

"I realise now that he was speaking truthfully." Miya admitted. "He told me of you as well, Kal-El."

"Probably so you would trust me when we met." Clark nodded. "Look, none of us know what happened to Harry. Do you have any ideas?"

Miya and Logan shared a look. "Takehito went into work one day and never came back." Logan shrugged. "The next day Miya received notice of his death. I waited but he never returned."

"Why didn't you contact us?"

"Harry has strict rules about time travel. I couldn't do anything until I synced up to the right time again. By then all my calls were being monitored. Jean and Emma couldn't contact me because Harry put mental protections on us so we wouldn't stand out and cause problems with the time stream."

"Couldn't you have just teleported over?"

"Yeah, not that simple. There is something over the city. I bet it's something Minaka did but we can't teleport in and out."

"Do you think a Phoenix could do it?"

"Possibly. Jean can't flame to me because of the mental protections."

"Neville and Xander have both arrived, as has Thor from your world."

"Just cause Harry's vanished?" Logan scoffed.

"Apparently this is the biggest thing to have ever happened. The other Aspects have even begun to take more direct action."

"Damn… we better work fast then."

"Hold that thought… Jean is contacting me."

Logan just nodded as Miya looked confused. "I didn't hear his phone ring."

"Mental communication. Jean is a telepath and a Phoenix, remember?"

There was a flash of fire and Jean was standing next to Clark.

Miya, Musubi and the twins were on their feet instantly and in a defensive position.

"Stand down. All of you." Logan ordered. "Jean is a friend."

"Greetings Miya Asama." Jean said with a low bow in perfect Japanese. "I apologise for intruding in your house but it was the only way I could reach Clark and Logan."

Miya was still wary but she gave a very small bow in response. Her eyes never left Jean's though.

"Hey Jeanie. Been a while." Logan said as he stood and gave Jean a long hug.

"Too long. We all missed you. Are you done with your latest trip?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Might as well be. But I need to stay here until we find Harry. There is some sort of field over the city preventing teleportation. Oh, these are my girls, Hibiki and Hikari."

"Twins Logan?" She smirked.

"It's worse than you think. I helped raise and train them. But the Sekirei bond is unusual in that respect. They are happy enough though."

Logan noticed the twins were glaring at him. "They are a bit possessive and jealous though." He whispered.

"I guess you know about Musubi, but this is Miya. She's Harry's latest wife, just legally married to his Takehito persona. Harry was waiting until we synced up the timeline to bond with her."

"She isn't the missing soul mate?" Jean asked.

Logan's face fell to one combined of anger and sadness. "No, that would be Akitsu. She's been different since Harry vanished."

"And she's not in a coma or screaming in pain." Clark added.

"That's strange." Jean mused as she sat down next to Clark. "Maybe Harry managed to protect her before whatever happened to him… happened."

"Why is she out there fighting other people? Why isn't she staying with either of you two?" Clark asked Logan and Miya.

Miya scowled as Logan sighed. "Akitsu was tricked into making Harry her Ashikabi, but _Miya_" He glared at the purple haired woman, "still holds it against her."

"You do know that Harry has quite a few soul mates that have been with him for over one hundred thousand years?" Clark asked worriedly.

"Akitsu was foolish. She should have known better." Miya spat.

"She was a small girl! She didn't understand what was happening!" Logan snapped. "That bastard, Minaka, he tricked her. Blame him."

"You aren't bound to Harry yet." Jean said softly. "If you truly want to be bound to him I suggest you think about what sort of person Takehito is and whether he will appreciate the way you treat his other mates."

"I've seen a king of the gods cast out his own son and condemn him to death because the son attacked Death and insulted him. Right now every god in existence is just waiting for me to find out who is responsible for what has happened to Harry so they can torture the man before they hand him over to Harry for sentencing. Do you really think the gods will appreciate your attitude to Harry's family? Especially as you are a goddess yourself." Clark challenged.

"What?" Jean asked with wide eyes.

Clark just nodded. "I can feel it. I've felt it before with Thor, Loki, Aphrodite and others. But I never realised what it was until I met Omoikane. I think the gods and goddesses can sense each other. Miya here is a goddess, just like the Guardians of Oa."

"Well I'll be damned." Logan smirked. "Harry always said there was something special about her, never told me what it was though."

"Is this true Miya?" Jean asked.

Miya looked at her with a stern expression. "What I am is none of your-"

"Pack that attitude in girl." Logan said dismissively. "Clark here could take you without breaking a sweat. You're a baby compared to us. A superior attitude just earns you a superior butt-kicking."

"It is true, I am what some would call a goddess, but I prefer not to broadcast that fact." Miya said unhappily.

"Relax Miya, now that the timelines have synced up and Clark is here, old Take will be back soon." Logan smiled.

"Can we get Kusano out of the city?" Clark asked. "I don't want her at risk."

"Who's Kusano?" Jean asked.

"That four year old Sekirei that Clark here just rescued, and no Clark, she has to stay with you now. At least until her bond has settled." Logan answered as he pointed at the little girl sleeping in Musubi's lap.

"What bond? There wasn't a light show like with Musubi and I felt that one."

"You need to kiss her, exchange some spit."

"She's four!"

"It doesn't have to be romantic kid." Logan rolled his eyes. "You telling me that when the trips were growing up they didn't kiss you goodnight before they went to bed? Harry told me plenty of stories over the past few decades."

"What will she think about it?"

"Takami will have told her what the kiss means. She called our Ashikabis our Big Brothers." Musubi answered. "It wasn't until we got older that she told us they might be our mates."

"Miya, I'm back!" A voice sounded from the Inn's entrance. "I stopped Akitsu but someone took out Yomi and made off with the Green Girl. I just hope it was Seo or the girl's Ashika-" The voice stopped as the silver haired man Clark had seen twice now stood at the door.

"Kagari, these are apparently friends of Takehito's." Miya answered.

"I thought your name was Homura?" Clark asked.

"Kagari is the name he uses in public, like a secret identity." Logan explained.

"What part of secret don't you get Old Man?" Kagari demanded angrily.

"I get it plenty, but you'd think I would know who is trustworthy. Clark and Jean are the best allies you can get."

"Just how many stories did Harry tell you about me?" Clark asked. Logan was acting pretty familiar.

Logan just smirked. "Harry showed me the memories of all your adventures, from the flight lessons to your first trip to Themiscyra to you getting some nookie from the Goddess of Love."

Jean laughed as Clark buried his face in his hands.

"What's all the commotion about? Oh… hi guys."

This time the new arrival was a girl a bit older than Musubi dressed in nothing but silk underwear.

"Uzume, what did I tell you about wearing clothes around the house?" Homura demanded.

"Relax, I'm wearing panties this time." She smirked as she walked in brazenly and sat down next to Miya who just glared at her.

"Uzume, meet Clark and Jean. The older girl is Musubi the younger is Kusano, Clark's Sekirei." Logan introduced. "This is Uzume, Sekirei Number 10."

"Number 10?" Jean queried.

"All Sekirei are given a number as they are 'born'. I'm Musubi, Number 88, a fist type Sekirei." Musubi announced proudly.

"Yeah, Ku there is the last at Number 108, the Sekirei of Life. Hikari and Hibiki are 11 and twelve respectively, Lightning types. Homura over there is number 6, fire type, Miya is Number 1 and Number 2 is upstairs." Logan explained.

There was a loud snort from the large alien at the table. Clark looked horrified at his slip. "I'm so sorry, I spend way too much time around Harry and Dani."

Jean just started laughing.

"Are you sure it's smart to reveal _all_ our secrets?" Homura asked.

"Look kid, Takehito is just going to tell them when he-"

"Takehito is dead Seo. When are you going to stop tormenting Miya like this?" Homura demanded angrily.

"You can't kill him. Not anymore than you can kill me." Jean told him calmly.

"A demonstration is not a good idea right now Jean. We already have most of the Castle incapacitated right now, we don't need to be dealing with a baby as well." Clark said quickly.

Jean looked very unhappy. "Fine, but after this crisis I am offing myself. _And_ I am going to attend school with you and the Cuckoos."

Clark looked a little out of his depth.

"Don't worry about it kid. All the Phoenixes get like this after a while. It's called a burning day, it doesn't do them any good to put it off." Logan assured him.

"Fine, I'll stab you with a sword myself, happy?"

"Very." Jean said snootily.

"Right, one last Sekirei for you to meet." Logan said as he didn't bother hiding his smile at Jean's attitude. "Matsu, get down here." He ordered as he stared at a corner of the ceiling.

There was a few moments silence. "Don't make me come up there and get you girl." He threatened.

There was more silence before Logan got to his feet and walked to the corner and shot into the air, phasing through the ceiling. There was screech of fright as Uzume and Homura gasped.

"Did the Old Man just fly through the ceiling?" Uzume asked.

"I haven't seen him do that since Takehito died." Miya said with a soft smile.

"What the hell is he?" Homura asked in quiet awe. "He can heal from anything we do to him, he can keep up with us… he _taught_ most of the single numbers."

"The technical term is 'mutant'." Jean said. "That's what lets him heal and ups his stats as a human. But he is also a wizard. He can do magic, as seen by his flying and phasing."

"He uses it for _other_ things as well." Hikari smirked.

"That dirty old man." Jean responded with a similar smirk. "It was Harry that taught him that stuff."

"Put me down you dirty old man!"

"See, she agrees." Jean laughed as Logan floated back down with a red head in a form-fitting white dress and a pair of glasses.

"Do you want Takehito back or not? You are the one who witnessed what happened; you said you wouldn't tell anyone but the God of Thunder. Well he's here." Logan grumbled as he plopped the red head down.

"Still have a thing for us red heads Logan?" Jean teased.

"Only a special few, your daughter still pisses me off.

"This is Matsu, Number 2. She witnessed what happened to Takehito. But she refused to tell us as she claimed he ordered her only to tell the God of Thunder as he was taken. Which is why I've been waiting for you, Clark."

"That isn't Raijin, that's a human. I know that for a fact." Matsu stated.

"If there is one thing Clark isn't… it's human." Jean said.

"How do you know, Matsu?" Miya asked.

Matsu blushed.

"Is he your Ashikabi?" Uzume asked with a grin.

"If that's the case then I might be Homura's Ashikabi too." Clark sighed.

"I don't know if you realised this but I'm a man!" Homura said angrily.

"You're no more a man than I am a woman." Logan snorted. "You aren't anything yet."

"What?" Clark asked.

"He's gender neutral until he finds his Ashikabi." Logan explained.

"I'm a defective Sekirei, I can't bond to anyone." Homura said with disgust at himself.

"That's what Minaka told you. Remember what Takehito told you." Miya said sternly.

"What? That I'll one day meet the person who will be my Ashikabi… well hey, it's a man!" Homura said sarcastically.

"Why do you hate men so much?" Clark asked.

"I don't hate men, I just can't believe that of all the luck I have to have a guy as an Ashikabi instead of a woman… that's how it usually works."

"Hey! My Ashikabi is a girl." Uzume objected.

"What sort of bonds are these?" Jean asked Logan.

"Harry says they are a form of soul bond. But it's one way. The Sekirei attaches to the Ashikabi and they gain power from the Ashikabi."

"Can't it go both ways?" Clark asked.

"It can, but there has to be love in the bond. The Ashikabi's soul can recognize the bond and create it's own attachment to the Sekirei just as a regular soul bond does."

"Ok… let's get Harry back and dump this on him." Clark decided.

Logan just grinned his agreement. "Matsu, that is the God of Thunder that Takehito wanted you to confide in. Now spill." Logan ordered.

Clark just raised a hand, the room ducked as a loud clap of thunder split the air outside and the room was lit up by the brilliant sheet lightning that exploded into the night sky of Tokyo.

"Maybe a little too much power, Clark." Jean winced.

"I doubt Raijin will mind. If I don't get Harry back soon Tokyo… Japan… let's face it, Earth might be destroyed by the gods." Clark shrugged.

"You aren't Raijin?" Matsu asked nervously.

Clark shook his head. "Raijin is the Japanese God of Thunder. I am the Norse God of Thunder."

"I thought that was Thor."

"I am Kal-El, Norse God of Thunder. I defeated Thor Odinson the previous Norse God of Thunder when he attacked my Master. I was bestowed with his divinity and position by his father, Odin Borson, The All-Father." Clark said formally.

"Kal-El." Matsu whispered with wide eyes. Suddenly she was on her kneeling with her face in the floor. "Forgive me Lord Kal-El, I didn't know it was you."

Clark, Jean and Logan shared a look of confusion. The others weren't too far behind.

"Stand up Matsu, I'm a young god and I don't like people kneeling before me unless we are doing something official." Clark said.

"What made you so scared?" Jean asked.

"I know you are the Su-Sssss… I know you are Sssssuuuuu… I can't say the name!" Matsu said as she began to panic.

Clark just sat there smiling softly. "I, Clark Kent am also known as Superman."

Uzume, Miya, Homura, Hibiki and Hikari's eyes widened in surprise.

"How didn't we see this before?" Homura asked.

"Magic. Takehito put a protection on me so that no one would be able to place me as Superman unless I specifically told them."

"Takehito told me and he isn't bound by those protections." Logan added.

"Why would Superman scare you, Matsu? He hasn't done anything evil." Jean asked.

"Africa… I know what he did in Africa."

Clark shivered in disgust at himself as the memories resurfaced.

"Did he kill the innocent, Matsu? No. You aren't evil so why would that make you fear him?" Logan asked sternly.

"I thought… because I knew his secret."

"Those people were murdering, torturing and raping… and I was… drugged. You haven't heard any other stories of me killing people, right?"

"You said you killed Thor." Homura pointed out.

"No, he said he defeated Thor. I was there." Jean corrected. "For his punishment he was reborn as a little girl… or at least he will be as soon as we get Harry back."

"We need to get down to the important stuff." Clark said as he sat forward. "I need to know what happened to Takehito so I can get him back, I don't know how long the gods will wait before they take matters into their own hands."

"Matsu, what happened to Takehito?" Jean asked.

"Minaka killed him." She said quietly.

"Details girl. We need details." Logan said firmly.

"Matsu, I am a telepath. Would you mind if I found the memories of what you saw and showed them to everyone?" Jean asked.

The eyes of everyone not friends with Jean Grey widened in fright.

"She doesn't read minds without permission, just like I don't use my x-ray vision on people." Clark sighed.

Every woman not familiar with Clark Kent's abilities covered their chests.

Clark rolled his eyes. "That's another thing, I just told you I had x-ray vision, the ability to see through solid objects. What exactly makes you think covering your breasts with your arms would stop me if I wanted to look?"

Jean and Logan just chuckled.

"Ok Matsu, can I take a copy of those memories and share them?" Jean asked again.

"You won't take anything else or make me forget?"

"Only what you let me take." Jean said as she began to stare into Matsu's eyes. Suddenly Matsu began to blink as if a light had been shone in her eyes and she shook her head. "All done."

"You didn't do anything." Uzume said.

"The mind is very quick." Jean smiled. She waved a hand at the wall and an image appeared of what Matsu saw that day through her eyes.

She was on top of the MBI tower on the large balcony area below the clock; there was some sort of artwork on the floor with strange pointed crystals on the floor. Standing in the middle of the circular artwork was Minaka Hiroto.

"That looks like a seal of some sort." Clark mused.

"Agreed." Jean nodded, their eyes fixed on the display.

Then they heard a familiar voice. _"Alright Minaka, what do you want now? I'm not letting you near those Sekirei, not after what you did to Homura and Akitsu."_

They saw Harry/Takehito storm on to the balcony.

"_That's the problem Takehito, you aren't in charge. I am."_ Minaka snapped. He then stopped and plastered a manic smile on his face. _"Besides, I've decided that this 'S - Plan' is too boring. It needs more… action. Which is why I am implementing my greatest idea yet! _

"_The Game!"_

"_These children are not your toys Minaka." _Takehito snarled as he moved forward towards Minaka.

"_I found them. I used my resources to bring them to life. So they will fight each other and entertain me!" _Minaka laughed maniacally. He turned and walked to the edge of the balcony and looked out on the city of Tokyo. _"You have become too much of a problem, my friend. I've been meaning to try these little doodads out and you can be my first test subject."_

"_This is the end of the line Minaka Hiroto. I've held off acting against you but I can't let you continue. Today you die."_

Minaka spun around grinning at Takehito. _"You first!"_ He then held up his hand revealing a device with a button that he pushed. A dome of energy sprung up from the crystals at the edges of the seal on the floor that Takehito was now standing in. The dome and crystals began to pulse in increasing speed.

"_You have made a very big mistake, Minaka."_

"_No, I am correcting one. Although I am still stunned that I made one in the first place."_ He mused egotistically.

They watched as Takehito turned to look straight at Matsu before they heard him speak. _"Wait for the God of Thunder to come to you. Tell him everything."_

Then the pulses became so fast that they were just a blinding light to all but Clark who could still see the pulses. The dome exploded in light and vanished leaving nothing behind but the glowing crystals.

"_They don't call me the Super Genius for nothing fool."_ Minaka muttered to himself.

They then saw the image begin to move as Matsu broke from her hiding place, grabbed one of the crystals and dove off the balcony to the open air. The memory then stopped.

"Your ability is flight?" Clark asked Matsu.

"No, my ability is to do with accessing and hacking systems."

"She is a formidable fighter in her own right though." Miya added.

"Ok, let's focus here people. What the hell was that that happened to Takehito?" Logan demanded.

"I don't know. I've searched the MBI databases but couldn't find anything." Matsu said agitatedly as she played with one of her long red pigtails.

"Those crystals seem to be key. Where is the one you stole Matsu?" Jean asked.

Matsu's eyes widened and Uzume was instantly on her feet in defensive position between them and Matsu.

"No, Uzume, they are here to help." Miya said. "He is Takehito's apprentice."

Matsu gave Uzume's hand a squeeze and the brunette in lingerie simply moved to stand behind Matsu.

"It's upstairs, I'll go and get it." Matsu said as she left the room, Uzume right behind her.

It was several minutes later that the two returned with the strange conical crystal. Jean had conjured a bed in the corner for Kusano so Musubi didn't have to hold her… of course Musubi felt fairly cold now and made up for it by wrapping her arms around Clark… who was fairly uncomfortable as a result.

"It's glowing." Musubi said with her seemingly natural innocence.

"It is, and I know why." Jean scowled. "Part of Harry is trapped in here. His soul if I'm not mistaken."

"That thing is a fucking horcrux?!"

***DONG***

Everyone winced as they turned to see Miya standing over Logan with her ladle embedded in his head; there was a small trickle of blood but no wound.

"There will be no swearing in Izumo Inn!" Miya chided sternly.

"Dammit girl! Where do you keep getting the ladles from?" Logan growled as he rubbed his head.

"Get hit often do you, Logan?" Jean smirked.

"Just wait till you spend an hour here. You'll be sure to break one of her rules." Logan said with a glare at the once again seated Miya. "Speaking of which, kid, you might want to stay at whatever house or hotel you were last night. You can't bond with a Sekirei properly if you stay here. _Miya_ doesn't approve of 'illicit' relations at Izumo Inn." Logan said petulantly… and childishly.

"Kusano will stay here. She is too young." Miya stated.

"No. I give you a fair amount of lee-way but you won't be interfering with Ashikabi and Sekirei bonds." Logan scowled at her. "That is her Ashikabi." He pointed at Clark. "Unless you want a little girl to be absolutely miserable and in pain then she goes with him."

"Er… can we back up to the part about 'illicit relations'?" Clark interrupted. "I'm fairly certain you told me we only had to kiss."

"Yeah, but you need to reinforce the bond with physical contact. Ku is too young for the best type but she can still sleep with you for a few weeks till the bonds settle. Takehito found that out the hard way with Akitsu." He said sadly.

"Alright, but can you give us a lift back Jean? It's a long drive."

"I can take you." Logan waved a hand dismissively. "We can't teleport out of the city but we can do so within the bounds."

"In that case we will join you there." Jean decided. "Lana, Chloe, Helen and Tess are all going to Themiscyra for the holidays. The rest of us will come here and help out."

"The more help the better." Clark said with relief.

"This will be your mission still, Clark. We will be serving you as our god or leader." Jean warned him. "Odin gave you this charge and we intend to respect that."

Clark nodded in understanding, this was his duty.

"Before we go to bed, there is definitely something I need to do." Matsu grinned as she leaned forward towards Clark. Her lips were pressed against his and her tongue forced it's way into his mouth catching Clark completely by surprise as her own ethereal wings sprouted from her back causing the others to shield their eyes.

Eventually Matsu broke the kiss. "We definitely need to practice _that_ some more." She grinned.

"Big brother!"

Clark had little time to relax as a golden haired missile slammed into his chest and kissed him on the lips. Little Kusano had chosen her Ashikabi and gained her wings as the plants outside flourished in the night as though the sun had made an impromptu appearance.

"Ku-"

Clark never got to finish that as a third pair of lips hit his and a second tongue entered his mouth.

When the kiss broke several seconds later he saw a triumphantly grinning Uzume in his lap.

"Uzume, you already _have_ an Ashikabi." Homura frowned.

"So? He's hot and I definitely want some of that action." She winked at Clark.

"Harry is never going to let me live this down." Clark groaned.

"Harry? Wait till Thor finds out. He'll take you straight to Asgard to celebrate." Jean snickered.

* * *

At around the same time that Clark was having this meeting, the girls had arrived at the hidden island of Themiscyra.

Unfortunately Jonathan wasn't expecting them at this time and they used him as the target of their teleportation.

The screams rang through the palace causing the guards to come bursting into the room to find the five girls covering their eyes as Jonathan covered other parts with his hands and sank deeper into the pool that served as a bath.

"Identify yourselves!" The lead guard ordered as they held them at spear and sword point.

"Easy Anna." Jonathan called out. "These are the new students Queen Amara spoke of. They just teleported in and used me as the focus, _next_ time hopefully they will _check_ first before assuming the person is available." He told them with a glare.

The girls looked very embarrassed.

Anna just smirked. "Follow us whilst the Lord Regent finishes his bath."


	33. Chapter 33

Jean had returned home to the castle to deliver a report to the others. Seo and the twins had headed back to the arboretum. Miya had graciously offered to let Clark, Musubi and Kusano stay at the inn as it would save on the commute tomorrow, she even allowed him to share a room with his Sekirei.

Clark made a mental note to see if Yukari was free tomorrow to get Musubi some nightclothes after she had crawled into bed and only then did he realise she was naked.

He was just grateful that Miya had taken Ku to sleep with her.

He thought about asking Uzume for help but after she walked into his room naked by mistake… he decided against it.

It was nearly two in the morning when all the lights in the Inn came on. Clark was instantly up followed by a fairly bleary eyed Musubi who was dressed in his shirt and her panties at his insistence. Clark was at the door where he saw Homura, Uzume, Miya and a very scared Kusano at their doors. Kusano headed straight for him and latched onto his waist like a limpet.

"Uzume! Put some damned clothes on!" Homura hissed quietly.

"Oops." She said before vanishing back inside.

"What's happening?" Clark asked.

"Something has tripped the wards." Miya explained. "Takehito placed them years ago."

"Where's Matsu?" Uzume asked as she returned to the corridor dressed in sweats.

Clark's head swung to the secret door that he had seen Matsu disappear into as they all headed for bed mere hours earlier. He activated his x-ray vision.

"Someone has her." He frowned before he handed Ku to Musubi. "Stay here, Musubi will keep you safe."

Musubi nodded firmly.

"I'll help her." Uzume offered as she crossed over to the other side of the corridor and Clark's room.

"Stay here." Clark ordered.

"This is my home to defend." Miya argued.

"And I will hand the intruder over to you, but I can at least get Matsu out before they realise she is gone."

Miya clearly didn't like it but nodded in assent.

Clark blurred away, smashing the secret door to smithereens, he had Matsu in his arms and back with Homura before the debris of the door had moved ten inches, he was back in the room by the time they passed a foot he had the intruder on the floor with their arms pinned behind their back and helpless under Clark's super strength.

It was a silver haired woman, dressed in a ragged and torn kimono but her entire body was covered in bandages, her hands were encased in metallic claws.

"Haihane." Miya spat. "Why have you come here?"

"It doesn't matter. When Number Four finds out I failed she will level your precious inn and take the thief back to MBI." The woman said dispassionately.

"Two questions, one: Who is Number Four?" Clark asked.

"Karasuba, the Black Sekirei and the leader of the Disciplinary Squad." Matsu answered. "She is very strong and fast, only Miya could defeat her… but the fight would level Tokyo."

Clark nodded. "Second question: How did they find out about Matsu and the secret room?"

There was silence as nobody had an answer to that.

"Ok, you, Haihane, how did you know about Matsu?" Clark asked the woman still restrained under his knee.

She chuckled with a slight mania. "You'll never know."

"I will make her talk." Miya snarled.

"With torture? I don't think Takehito would approve of you doing that. Not when there are better, more efficient and much easier methods." Clark reasoned.

"Fine, what do you suggest?" She asked, clearly disappointed.

"I'll get Jean. She can take the information right out of her mind. It'll take me about five minutes to get there though so secure the building."

* * *

Clark and Jean discovered that five minutes was five minutes too long as they arrived to find Haihane dead. Homura and Musubi were fighting a short redhead with a crazed look in her eye and Miya was exchanging devastating blows in a sword fight with a tall silver haired woman. Uzume and Matsu were standing guard over Kusano.

Izumo Inn was gone. Only the back wall resembled anything like a structure where as other three walls had collapsed taking the second floor with it.

"Jean, can you do anything?" Clark asked as he prepared to move in and help Miya who seemed to be in the most danger considering the swords involved. The red head was only using fists.

"I can't control them, but I am getting snippets of information. They are on orders from Minaka Hiroto to capture Matsu, kill Miya and yourself and retrieve the crystal. The crystal is their priority."

"I'll handle Miya's opponent and then help Homura. Talk to Matsu, get her, Kusano and the crystal back to the castle… or even better, see if Dad will grant her sanctuary at Themiscyra." Clark ordered.

"On it." Jean responded as she headed off.

Clark focused on Miya and her battle. Her opponent was very skilled, he doubted he could match her if he was any weaker as she was exceptionally strong and fast and her skill was impressive. Miya seemed to be substantially better but was holding back for some reason.

Clark had his hammer in his hand as he rushed forward. He charged the hammer with lightning and struck.

He was shocked when the woman raised her sword to deflect the blow, but Clark's strength was greater and combined with the lightning that transferred down her katana she was even more shocked… literally.

She went flying into the remains of the back wall, bringing it down on top of her.

"This is _my_ fight!" Miya said angrily.

"Nobody fights alone if they don't have to. Takehito's rules." Clark said calmly as he kept his gaze fixed on the pile of rubble that hid the woman. "If you want to fight about it you can train me later. You are an exceptional swordswoman and Takehito is always looking to get me more training and better sparring partners."

Miya was about to respond when the debris exploded outwards to reveal a very angry woman standing there.

"Stand down and surrender, I don't want to hurt you." Clark ordered.

"I'd like to see you try human." The woman spat, she tried to take a step forward but her foot wouldn't move. She looked down and saw with horror that her feet where submerged in the solid floor up to the ankles. She was still sinking.

Clark and Miya watched in horror as the woman sank all the way down to her neck and she began to scream in terror. Then a bolt of red came from Clark's left hitting her in the head knocking her out.

Clark and Miya spun to the source of the red bolt to see a large muscled man dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.

"Neville Longbottom, at your service." He said in crisp British tones… it sounded weird in Japanese.

"Erm… Hi. And thanks." Clark said. He had heard many stories about Neville from Harry. Neville was clearly considered Harry's adopted brother.

"It was nothing. Xander did most of the work." Neville said indicating the tall lanky figure rising out of the ground behind the submerged woman.

"Just like old times, eh Nev?" Xander smiled happily.

"You aren't wearing your Death's Hand garb." Neville pointed out.

"Ah yes, I'll try and remember that for next time."

"And the lightsabre."

"Hell! I'd forgotten about that!" Xander snapped his fingers in annoyance. "I need to wait for Harry to make me one."

Neville just smirked and handed over a metal tube with runes on it.

"You knew how to make these… wait, this is my old one."

"Harry asked me to look after it for you after you passed on. He thought I might be able to use it."

"Well keep it then!" Xander insisted as he handed it back.

"I'm fine without it. When you next pass on I'll resume custodianship of you weapon." Neville smiled.

"Can we focus on the second fighter?" Clark asked as he indicated the ongoing battle between Homura and the red head that had spilled out onto the street.

"Go break her back or something, I'll heal her up." Neville shrugged.

Clark nodded and sped off.

Xander turned to grin at Miya. "So, you're my newest daughter-in-law."

* * *

Jonathan was trying not to blush as much as the girls were as he walked into the throne room with Anna and her squad of guards behind him. Anna was simply trying not to laugh.

"Alright ladies, I don't know why you bothered bringing bags, you are here to live as Amazons." He said as he indicated the duffels they had packed. He was wearing a toga himself.

"We weren't sure what to bring." Helen shrugged.

"Well, never mind. Phoebe" he indicated a brown haired woman, "will be taking you to the barracks where the young Amazons stay for training. The good news is that Thor and Loki brought a time travel device with them, this means that you can stay for a few years and become full Amazons and still return to this point in time as though nothing happened." Jonathan smiled.

"And the bad news?" Chloe asked warily.

"I've watched these ladies train. It won't be easy."

"But worth it." Chloe said firmly.

"Agreed." He assured them, especially Lana and Tess who were looking nervous.

* * *

The residents of the castle and Izumo Inn had travelled to the mansion Clark was staying at in Tokyo through the magicals teleporting them. Jean had also grabbed Logan and the twins in case they were attacked.

Haihane's corpse was placed in stasis to be dealt with later whilst the other silver haired woman, Karasuba, and the red head, Benitsubasa, we bound and tied up ready for interrogation.

Miya was squirming under the intense questioning of her father-in-law and brother-in-law. She may not be human, but she was raised in a Japanese culture and she found herself submitting to their questioning… although she was aware they were teasing her.

This is why Homura, Matsu and Uzume were staring in disbelief at the sight of the very timid Miya Asama; they never imagined a timid Miya could exist.

Scott and Emma had joined them and Clark received a surprise when he was tackled and bowled over.

"Hi there Clark."

"Kyla? What are you doing here?" Clark asked as he looked up at the girl straddling him on the floor of the kitchen.

"All my friends are either in comas, on Themiscyra or in Japan… this way I get to spend more time in the adventure you call life." She smiled.

"You realise I took a scythe to the back last night? It was a very painful 'adventure'."

"I'm a trained Amazon Clark. I took my fair share of sword and spear wounds."

"Really? No scars?" He asked as he checked her bare arms.

"They have this thing they call a 'purple ray'… it's exactly what it sounds like… but it heals you up nicely." She shrugged. "Plus magic."

"Where's Mom and Lex?" Clark asked.

Kyla stood up from her position straddling Clark and helped him up. "Lex is staying behind because he still has the plant to run and needs to keep up appearances. Martha is staying to deal with the farm. A few of my sisters are staying with her to help out."

"You have sisters?"

"Amazons Clark. We are a sisterhood."

"Ah."

"So, I hear you made some new 'friends'." She said teasingly.

"Oh god. Come on, I'll introduce you." Clark groaned as he led her to Musubi.

"Hey Musubi, this is Kyla, my girlfriend and first soul mate." Clark said.

Musubi just looked at him in bewilderment. "What are you saying? Oh! Is that English? I can't wait to learn English!" She said happily.

"Erm…" Clark was unsure just how to proceed, Kyla didn't speak Japanese and Musubi didn't speak English and he himself had trouble realising what language he was speaking. "Does anyone know a translation spell for Kyla?" He called out to the room at large.

"Nev, you're up." Xander grinned as he slapped the man on the back.

Neville just rolled his eyes as he stood. "Play nice with my sister-in-law." He ordered Xander, who just gazed up at him innocently. "Jean, come here and protect Miya from Xander." He called out to the telepath.

"Alright, so you don't know the spell?"

"Harry never taught us." Kyla shrugged.

"That's because he prefers to learn the language… and he was always too lazy to learn the spell. He would be more likely to place a general translation spell on you and be done with it. The only problem with that is you will never know if someone is speaking a different language to you, if you get recorded on tape then they will hear you having a conversation in two languages." Neville explained.

"I thought Harry knew every spell there was." Kyla queried.

"He probably does know it." Neville smiled. "But back when we were just a pair of fifteen year olds trying to change the world, he would drag me to Africa with him and make me perform the translation spell on him. I think he refuses to use it himself as a form of tradition now."

"Harry is crazy." Clark sighed.

"Yes, but that's all Xander's fault."

"Hey, don't blame me for all of that!" Xander piped up from the other side of the room. "He spent millions of years alone in solitude, I think that had a bigger affect than me."

"No, I can honestly say that isn't true." Neville smirked.

"Um…. What about Nym, huh? She was just as nuts as me!" Xander argued.

"No, she was just nuts _about_ you."

"This- This is not over Neville Longbottom! I will prove you wrong!" Xander declared theatrically.

Kyla was soon brought up to speed on the translation charm with instruction to remove it when she was back in America but to also teach the others.

"Ok, we need a plan. Jean says that Minaka had the Inn bugged and also has bugs in every TV in the city." Clark started the meeting as they sat around a conjured table in the sitting room.

"Is that why you threw all electronics out of the house just now? Uzume asked. "Because I was really hoping to catch the latest episode of Waterboys."

"You too!" Hikari said excitedly. "We will make Logan take us home tomorrow so we can watch it."

The sound of an adamentium-laced skull banging repeatedly on the table was ignored.

"Moving on… Minaka now knows that Matsu has the crystal, apparently known as a 'Jinki'. I'm open to suggestions on how to proceed."

"It's a shame Harry isn't here, he could assume Minaka's form and replace him." Xander sighed.

"We need to end this now. If you have the power to take out Minaka you have the power to end The Game." Homura said earnestly.

"Game? What game?" Emma asked.

"Minaka decided to pit the Sekirei against each other. They would eliminate each other until only one remained." Miya scowled. "It goes against everything Takehito stood for."

"I'll say it does." Scott muttered. "Let's put a plan together people."

* * *

Lex had just finished his day at the plant, he didn't want to go home to Lana's old house as it was empty and he wanted some company. So he headed to the Kent farm to offer his help and spend some time with Martha, Thor and Loki.

He pulled into the driveway and got out of his Porsche to hear a man shouting and berating others in what he thought was Greek, but it was a strange dialect, he cast a translation charm on himself.

"_I_ am your Queen! Not that upstart!" Lex was fairly certain he knew that voice, not just because he didn't know of another man who would claim to be a 'Queen'. "You will show me respect when in my presence."

Lex walked into the barn to see four Amazon women he didn't know looking somewhat scared of the male Hippolyta. The women were all dressed in a variety of shirts and jeans so they wouldn't stand out if someone visited.

"So you treat women just as badly as you treat men." Lex announced his presence with an accusation.

Hippolyta spun around and sneered at Lex. "Another man." She said in English. "How many of these girls have you raped so far?"

"Wow." Lex said as he reared back in surprise. "That is the most disgusting accusation I have ever been hit with. I'm going to recommend that Harry either kills you or makes you into a baby with no knowledge of whom you are. Which is the same as death for you."

The Amazon women gasped in shock as they understood Lex perfectly thanks to his translation charm.

"The goddesses will never permit such a thing." She sneered, still in English.

"The goddesses were the ones who stripped you of your crown and then turned you into a man. The Goddess Aphrodite also warned you what would happen if you continued this way."

Hippolyta snarled and spun on the Amazons switching back to Ancient Greek. "Subdue the man, we will use him as a hostage to bargain for our return to Themiscyra."

The women just stared at her.

A bolt of red light hit the out of control Hippolyta and she dropped to the floor like a rock.

"Martha is on her way." Lex assured the even more scared women.

A second later Martha appeared with Aphrodite at her side.

Lex turned and bowed low as did the Amazons. "My Lady, I didn't realise you were coming."

Aphrodite just smiled. "Rise my children." She said as she nudged Lex's shoulders up so he was standing straight. She kissed his cheek causing the usually unflappable Lex to blush. "Thank you for defending my Amazons." She told him.

"For all my previous malcontent ways, I would never hurt a woman like that." Lex inclined his head.

Aphrodite nodded. "I was already here as I like to spend some time with Martha and Jonathan helping on the farm. With both her husband gone and Dani and Amara unavailable she needs the help and I enjoy farming, it is much like being a Goddess of Love. One must plant the seeds and nurture the growth whilst defending from weeds and pests."

"And the animals seem to love her too." Martha smiled.

"Even a calf loves it's mother as much as a human child does the same." She explained. "It would seem Hippolyta is unable to change. Like many of the abused she has become the abuser. As you said Lex, we will place her in stasis until Lord Death returns to make his decision.

"Come with me Lex, the stables need cleaning and I must confess that I do so love the smell of manure."

Lex laughed until he noticed that none of the others were laughing and although Aphrodite was smiling serenely, the others were cringing in expectation of the goddesses' reaction.

"You're serious?" Lex asked.

"Even the gods have their quirks." She smiled as she led him away.

* * *

The plan to deal with Minaka was to have Clark and Emma enter the MBI building and request a meeting with Minaka. If they were rebuffed then Emma would telepathically force the issue.

So Clark got dressed up in his finest suit, that Neville had to conjure for him, and Emma was dressed in a jaw-dropping white ensemble that looked as professional as it did indecent with it's short white skirt and white silk blouse that was unbuttoned to her naval and showing quite clearly that she wasn't wearing a bra.

This didn't faze Clark, not after dealing with Musubi over the past few days.

They had decided to take a limo from the ruins of the Inn where the others were going to begin rebuilding. Miya insisted that everything be done by hand just as Harry had done when he built the place with Logan.

The ride in the limo was fairly nerve wracking for Clark. He was used to fighting people in physical combat, he had no idea how to handle business matters, no matter what Harry and Lex tried to show him.

Twenty minutes into the journey the limo was flipped into the air and only Clark's reflexes enabled him to grab Emma and shield her with his body before she was thrown around like a shoe in a tumble dryer. When the car stopped spinning it landed on its roof.

"Emma, are you ok?"

"I believe so." She said as Clark released her. "Someone out there is very angry and intent on killing you, Mr. Kent." She frowned. "Please deal with her before she injures anyone else, I will see to the driver."

Clark nodded the pushed the door open, he could hear the metal tearing as the buckled metal was nearly fused together.

Outside was a bright day and there were no clouds in the sky. Many people were staring at the wreckage or taking photos on their phones. Clark couldn't believe that people could be so callous.

As he exited the car he scanned the area, he ignored Emma as she exited behind him and headed for the driver's door.

They had come to a stop at what appeared to be a major crossroad; the cars were backed up due to the crash. Walking down the road towards him was the same woman that he had seen fighting Homura that first night and also in his dreams, the same woman that attacked him in his hotel room.

"Emma, can you get Jean to contact me?" Clark called over his shoulder.

There was no response as he heard the driver door being wrenched open.

"_Clark, Emma filled me in, what do you need?"_ Jean's voice sounded in his head.

"_Can you see through my eyes? There is a woman walking down the road towards me. She's been appearing in my dreams with Matsu and Homura and others, can you find out from those two what they know about this woman and why she keeps trying to attack me. She got me kicked out of the hotel because she attacked me."_

"At last I have found you foul monkey!" The woman declared as she pointed a finger at Clark. "Now I will destroy you, never shall you take my bo- ahhh!" She fell to her knees as her cheeks flushed.

"_Clark, chances are she's another possible Sekirei for you, her name is Tsukiumi, Number 9. She uses water attacks."_

"_Is there a reason she seems to want me dead?"_

"_She hates all Ashikabis. You have the greatest chance of being hers so…"_

"_There had to be one." _Clark sighed. _"I'll see if I can sort this out without levelling half of Tokyo. Oh, and Jean?"_

"_Yes Clark."_

"_Tell Kyla to stop laughing at me."_

He suddenly heard Jean chuckling in his head. _"How did you know, she was gobsmacked."_

"_Our bond is getting stronger, I can feel her."_

"_Wow, even Harry and his girls can't feel each other like that."_

"_It's not unpleasant, just new. I'll have Emma contact you when we're done."_

"Look Tsukiumi, if you don't want to be my Sekirei then that's fine. But if you keep trying to kill me and cause damage to the city and others then we _will_ have a problem."

Tsukiumi had managed to climb back to her feet. "So you know my name monkey. But I have not granted you leave to use it! You will pay for your insolence! _Water Celebration!_" She shouted causing torrent of water to come pouring towards him.

Clark knelt down and planted his hands on the floor bracing himself.

A good ten seconds of tidal wave encompassed him before fading away and he stood.

"What sorcery is this?" Tsukiumi demanded. "I am the strongest there is!"

"Good Lord, she sounds like Bruce back in the beginning." Emma commented as she walked up beside Clark.

"Is this another you have defiled you man?"

"Actually, I take it back. She sounds like Hippolyta."

"Got a plan?" Clark asked quietly.

"Darling, I always have plans, plans for all occasions. I even have one for seducing you should you turn evil." She said dismissively as she sauntered past Clark with a sway in her hips. Clark closed his eyes and counted to ten. Emma was as evil as her daughters.

"Listen girl, you had better have evidence to back up the accusations you just levelled at my student." Emma warned Tsukiumi.

"He is a man. A monkey man at that! I can feel him trying to seduce me even now. I feel it in my breast." Tsukiumi snapped.

"Has he sought you out? Has he made any effort to contact or approach you?" Emma demanded. "No! You were the one who approached him! You attacked him when he didn't even know you existed."

"Yes but-"

"Has he made any overt or definable attempts on you? Anything other than what you claim to 'feel' in your breast?"

"No, but-"

"Then make a choice you silly little girl. This is Takehito Asama's apprentice. He has three Sekirei already who have willingly come to him. You, if you can see past you stupidity, have also sought him out. Either be his Sekirei or leave him alone but don't come to us claiming that he has slighted you or has designs on you when he hasn't even asked for your name." Emma spun on the heel of her white stilettos and walked up to Clark.

"Come dear, the alternate limo has arrived." She said, completely ignoring the utterly bewildered Sekirei Number 9.

Clark didn't move though as he stood there with his arms folded and a hand to his chin in thought.

"Mr. Kent?"

"One moment, Miss Frost." Clark said absently as he walked towards the still motionless and unsure Tsukiumi. He got to within a foot of her as she eyed him warily. "You don't want an Ashikabi, why?"

She managed to get her ire up again, but was still unsure. "As if I would allow any man, monkey or otherwise to claim me! To use and debase me as his!"

"You are aware that if I don't make you my Sekirei then someone else could come along force you to be their Sekirei… what if someone had multiple Sekirei and overpowered you?"

Tsukiumi visibly paled at that.

"Allow me to give you a gift then." Clark said as he moved in swiftly and kissed her on the lips allowing.

Emma watched from behind Clark a few feet away with a raised eyebrow as wings of light and water erupted from the other blondes back. She was curious about Clark's reasoning for this route.

Clark broke the kiss as the wings faded leaving a slack-jawed Tsukiumi staring at him. "I release you from any bonds or duties you think I may be entitled to as your Ashikabi. I leave you with only my protection as your bound Ashikabi and my blessing to go forth and live your life so long as you are respectful of all others and the law." Clark then spun on his heel and walked back to Emma and the waiting backup limo.

"You are aware that could come back to bite you?" Emma queried.

"I have a feeling it was going to do that anyway, at least this way I tried to help her." He said as he held the door open for her.

* * *

Work on the inn was moving quite well. It was midday and they had already cleared away most of the debris. Jean had retrieved Kusano and Matsu from the castle and they now had quite the team at work. Neville had taken little Ku and begun talking to her about plants and how she could use them and play with them. She actually became the one to do the most work on the building with Musubi and Kyla right behind her with their strength.

Xander and Logan were now measuring for the materials they would need to build a traditional style Japanese inn.

"I am not sure you should do this. If Takehito is to return, perhaps he will want to do so himself." Miya said nervously, unwilling to argue with her father-in-law.

"Relax Miya, consider this a belated wedding gift from me." Xander smiled reassuringly.

They had set up a table to draw up blueprints and write down the measurements by the entrance in the fence. The others were around the back dealing with the debris or preparing lunch.

"Erm, excuse me… I really don't mean to intrude, but is Clark Kent around here?"

The trio turned to see a short dark-haired girl in a school uniform with a slightly younger boy dressed in long black shorts and white shirt with white hair.

"Yukari? What are you doing here?" Logan asked.

Yukari tried to ignore the glare coming from Miya. "Hi Seo, I _was_ going to introduce you to Clark today, he was searching for information on Takehito. I can't reach him on his cell phone and you weren't at the Arboretum so I thought I'd try here. He was planning on visiting Miya."

"Yeah, ran into Clark last night. Had ourselves a little party. Raised the roof a bit… really brought the house down." Logan said blandly as he folded his arms.

Yukari leaned to the side slightly to look at the demolished inn behind Logan. "Some party."

"Damn straight." Logan smirked. "Now, what are you doing here with 107?" He nodded to the boy standing meekly behind her.

"You know Sheena?" She brightened up as the aforementioned Sheena's eyes widened worriedly.

"I know the names, numbers and abilities of _all_ the Sekirei kid. 108 is back there with the others." Logan said dismissively.

"Ku is here?" Sheena asked excitedly as he stepped forward.

"Round back, go on." Logan gave a small smile. "You stay here girl, we aren't done talking." He stopped Yukari with a hand on her shoulder.

Sheena skidded to a halt a meter or so away.

"Don't worry Sheena, Seo is like an uncle." Yukari assured him.

Sheena gave the three adults a long look before nodding and running off. "KU!"

"SHEENA!"

"I think it's safe to say they found each other." Xander smirked.

"Yeah… just wish they weren't so loud about it." Logan grimaced.

"I feel your pain." Xander patted Logan on the back.

"Alright kid, you seem to have gained yourself a Sekirei. Any reason you haven't made him emerge yet?" Logan asked sternly.

"Look, I didn't know about Sekirei and Ashikabi until I met Clark and Musubi yesterday. Sheena said I _might_ be his Ashikabi. It didn't seem like something to rush into."

"You know the boy is going to be at risk and hunted by other Ashikabis wanting to claim and use him as long as he is unbound, right?"

"But Clark wouldn't-"

"Clark is the best you can find. Just like you wouldn't try and force someone. But Ashikabis are regular humans. They can be as evil as the next person."

"YOU!"

They spun around to see Kusano dragging Sheena behind them whilst Neville and Matsu followed with amused smiles.

"Why haven't you kissed my Sheena?" Kusano demanded as she marched up to Yukari.

"I-I-I-"

"Ku, it's ok, honestly." Sheena tried to reason.

"Nuh ah! She's supposed to be your Ashikabi, she's supposed to take care of you!" Kusano said petulantly.

"Ku, this is something Yukari and Sheena need to decide for themselves, ok?" Xander said as he knelt in front of the little girl. "They're smart people, trust them to do the right thing."

Kusano sagged and pouted. "Ok."

"Of course there's no reason you can't put them in a plant room till they do the right thing." He winked at her.

"Hey, what?" Yukari demanded.

But a huge smile lit up Ku's face as roots shot up from the ground and encased the girl and boy.

Ku wrapped her tiny arms around Xander's neck. "Thank you Grandfather." She said happily.

"Your welcome sweetheart. Now you go ahead and finish getting lunch ready and we'll let you know when they are done." He said as he gave her a little pat on the backside.

Ku grabbed Neville and Matsu by the hand and skipped off with them.

"You are one evil son of a- OW! Dammit woman!"

"There will be no swearing in Izumo Inn!"

"There _is_ no Izumo Inn! We are building the damned in!" Logan whined as he rubbed the receding bump where the ladle had struck his head.

Miya just tapped the ladle against the palm of her free hand.

"So… the south wall." Logan said quickly.

* * *

MBI and Minaka definitely didn't want Clark or Emma in the building. First the receptionist had tried to get them to leave. Emma had mentally forced them to take them to the elevator. They had activated the private elevator that would take them to Minaka's penthouse on the top floors with smiles and bows.

But then it was clear that Minaka was willing to take drastic measures when the elevator first came to a dead stop and then began to plummet to the ground from around the thirtieth floor. Emma had disabled the cameras and surveillance whilst Clark exited through the emergency hatch up top and then pulled the elevator up to the top through his power of flight and then welded the brakes in place.

As they exited the elevator at the top floor they were met with a barrage of gunfire from assault rifles and sub-machine guns. Clark moved in front of Emma whilst she slipped into her diamond form. This meant that she was unable to use her telepathy in this form so she resorted to an area effect stunner that sent the armed guards to the ground in a heap. Unfortunately one of the guards had too tight a grip on the trigger of his submachine gun as he went down and several of the guards in front of him received bullets in the back and ass.

Considering the choice these men had made she was reluctant to save them, but she just rolled her eyes at Clark's glare and stopped the bleeding. She didn't bother removing the bullets though.

"Those men made their choice, Mr. Kent." Emma argued as they ascended the last set of simple stairs.

"That doesn't mean they deserved to die! They might not have realised what was happening, they might not have been given all the facts."

"We were two clearly unarmed people who had caused no injuries or damage as we entered the building and elevator."

"But were they told that?"

"Of course they were, Clark! They are the elite; they will die without the right Intel. They are intelligent people hired and entrusted to protect Minaka Hiroto, they knew exactly what they signed up for." She stated as she violently sent the door flying off its hinges with a burst of magic.

"This isn't the penthouse." Clark frowned. They were standing on the same balcony that they had seen Harry vanish from in Matsu's memories.

"Scan the area." Emma ordered.

Clark began to view the area with x-ray vision when a loud rumbling sounded through the air and shook the building. Steam and smoke poured from just beneath the clock tower above them.

"That things a rocket!" Clark exclaimed as he grabbed hold of Emma to hold her steady. They watched as the entire clock tower section of the building launched off of the building and into the air.

"Clark, I suggest you-" ***BOOM*** "- What the devil is going on now." Emma demanded as the building began to shake with explosions.

"The building is rigged with explosives." Clark muttered. "We need to-"

"You need to get Minaka, we will handle the building. Minaka and the other crystals are the priority."

"But the innocent-"

"Will be nothing compared to the carnage and mayhem if you fail to rescue Harry. Death _must_ return Clark." She told him earnestly.

Clark didn't like it but he knew she as right. He briefly crouched down before blasting into the air with so much force that he not only cracked the roof top but sent Emma sailing straight off the edge of the building. Fortunately she could fly with magic… Clark would suffer for it later though.

* * *

Having spent so much time around Harry, Jonathan Kent was nearly back to his physical prime. He was looking almost a decade younger… but still older than his teenage son… fortunately. Although magic was great around the farm he still found he enjoyed doing most things by hand, something he found that Amara, Dani and even Aphrodite preferred. There was just something very fulfilling about working your muscles and completing a job with aches that only a good bath or shower could fix. Often times Jonathan would return to the house to find Dani, Amara and Martha in some sort of massaging triangle in the living room as they worked on each other's feet.

He usually took the opportunity to use the amazing shower system that Dani had installed for them and managed to stay out of trouble.

His newfound vitality meant that he could keep up with the Amazons on some of their basic training. He could jog on the beach in the mornings, stretch with them afterwards and they even managed to teach him some sparring moves.

Jonathan loved staying on the island. It was as though Aphrodite had gifted him with lots of daughter, nieces, sisters and so on. What really made him happy was the fact that not a single Amazon resented him for being a man. He didn't realise it but the Amazons loved him as family, the uncle, brother and father they never knew they missed out on.

On this particular day it was just breaking dawn and the Amazons were treating the new recruits to their first morning jog on the beach. Jonathan was with them as he was a firm believer in never asking someone to do what he wouldn't.

All of the girls were used to being up at the crack of dawn and burning the midnight oil. Lana had tended stables during her holidays, Chloe was always up early working on the latest edition of the Torch, Helen was a doctor… enough said, and Tess had developed a healthy work ethic.

Any reservations they had about jogging at the crack of dawn were quickly put to death by the beautiful sight of the morning sun rising over the Atlantic and bathing the paradise island of Themiscyra in it's radiant glow.

It was sort of spoilt by the sight of Superman heading to the island with some sort of space capsule over his head. This capsule was easily the size of a small house and Clark was showing no trouble in holding it.

"I know we've seen and done some incredible things with magic… but tell me that's not impressive beyond belief." Helen said as she and the others were trying to catch their breath.

"He does make quite the entrance." Tess agreed.

Jonathan, meanwhile, had flown up to intercept Clark and find out what was happening.

"Son, I hope you aren't planning on dumping trash on the island." He said with mock severity.

"Unfortunately yes. This capsule holds Minaka Hiroto, the man who attacked Death. I need somewhere and someone to hold onto him. I was hoping the Amazon nation would imprison him whilst I wrap things up in Tokyo, I'll be taking the capsule back with me though."

"You realise it's a death sentence for any man who steps on the island and isn't given permission from Aphrodite?" Jonathan warned.

"His fate has already been decided. There isn't anything any of us can do to stop it. We learnt that with this world's Thor. All I'm asking is that you guard him and hold off the execution so Death himself can deal with it." Clark reasoned.

"This whole Death thing still doesn't sit well with me." Jonathan scowled. "I just can't condone killing someone like that."

"Me neither, I had to convince Emma to prevent the deaths of some guards who managed to injure themselves… although they were trying to kill us." Clark allowed.

"The Amazons would consider it an honour to serve the gods in this way and imprison this monster on behalf of the Gods and Aspects."

Jonathan spun in the air to see Anna and her guards hovering there.

"You could have said you were there!" Jonathan gasped as he clutched his chest due to shock.

Anna just smirked. "You should have assumed we would follow you, Lord Regent. We cannot protect you from afar."

Jonathan turned back to his son only to see him wearing what can only be called: 'A shit eating grin'.

"It is not that funny." Jonathan half whined.

"It is to me." Clark smiled.

"Whatever, get that man out of there."

Clark lowered the capsule to the sandy beach. "I'm going to rip the door open. Take a shot at him to stun him. He is a super genius and this thing already tried to electrocute me and fire some sort of plasma energy at me. I wouldn't put it past him to have booby trapped his clothes."

"Alright Clark, on my mark: Three, two, one, go!"

There was a horrible wrenching sound as Clark ripped the door from the capsule; it was followed up by Jonathan sending several red bolts of magic into the interior.

Then there was a soft thud.

"Got him." Jonathan said as he took a step forward to retrieve the now unconscious Minato Hiroto only to have a firm hand clamp down on his shoulder.

"Going somewhere, Lord Regent?" Anna asked with a serious look. "Don't you even think about it Lord Kal-El!" She snapped causing the caped hero to freeze with a foot raised to enter the capsule. "We've lost enough to this monster without risking you both. My women will retrieve the prisoner."

Both males looked about to argue… then they noticed the identical glares on every woman standing behind Anna.

"Fine… but you had better not die, Harry isn't here to fix you." Jonathan warned.

* * *

Lex was currently standing in a large conference room. His lawyers had told him that he needed to give a deposition regarding the current issues between his estranged father and himself. Lex had said that he was happy to have nothing to do with the Luthors but apparently Lionel and Lucas were trying to take everything he had.

Lex wasn't worried as Amara had worked the contracts and Loki was sitting next to him ready to lend her legal knowledge. They soon arrived at the law firm employed by the Luthors. Lex still had an account with them for business matters but he preferred to pay Amara for her time on his personal issues.

"Before we begin, Mr. Lionel Luthor would like a private moment with Mr. Matheson." The Senior Partner of the firm, Mr. Cuthbert, stated. He didn't appear to be asking.

"Not going to happen." Loki said dismissively as she placed her briefcase on the conference table.

"Young lady, I was talking to Mr. Matheson." Cuthbert glared at her.

"You may address me as Miss Odinson." She said imperiously as she became every bit the Asgardian Princess she was. "A meeting between my client and Mr. Luthor… any Luthor, is highly inappropriate and will be seen as an attempt at intimidation."

Cuthbert decided to ignore the little bitch and turned to Lex. "Mr. Luthor wishes to see if an agreement can be reached without litigation. He promises that he will try to be fair and reasonable."

"I might as well hear him out, Loki. The worst he can do is annoy me." Lex shrugged.

"I advise against this, Lex. If you intend to go through with this then make sure you keep a tight rein on what you say. Monosyllabic is your watchword." She warned.

"Right." He said with a smirk.

Loki returned the smirk. "I will wait here."

"Very well, lead the way." Lex sighed as he turned to the Senior Partner.

Loki watched with a cold chill in her stomach as Lex walked off.

* * *

Cuthbert opened the door for Lex but did not follow. Inside was a windowless room with nothing but a second door on the opposite wall. There was no furniture, just Lionel and Lucas Luthor.

Lex stepped inside and the door was shut behind him, he frowned when he heard it lock. He waited for Lionel to say something, he had every intention of abiding by Loki's advice, he could probably talk his way through anything but he didn't want to risk it.

"Lex, thank you so much for agreeing to this meeting." Lionel smiled broadly.

He waited for a response from Lex but Lex just looked at him expectantly.

"Straight down to business I see, very well. I'll make this simple Lex; I have two choices for you. First you rejoin the family and we combine our assets and make the Luthors the greatest name on the planet."

"No." Lex said emotionlessly.

"A shame." Lionel said, but his sincerity was lacking. "Very well, the second option is for you to sign over control of LexCorp and all your assets and I won't demand the courts garnish your earnings to make up for every Luthor penny you spent." He said as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"No."

"Is that _all_ you're gonna say?" Lucas demanded angrily. "All I ever heard about was how great Lex was and how he was the heir to the Luthor fortune. Everywhere I went since I was old enough to understand it all. But this is the truth? You are nothing compared to me!"

"Lucas!" Lionel snapped.

Lex couldn't resist smirking at his younger half-brother who was scowling away. But he still said nothing.

"I assume you will not change your mind?" Lionel asked as he turned back to Lex.

"Correct. Goodbye." Lex said as he turned to open the door he had remained standing in front of. It was still locked so he knocked politely and waited.

"Actually, we are not quite done." Lionel said with a hint of smarm.

Lex sighed and turned around.

"I had to be prepared for you not cooperating. It saddens me to do this Lex it really does." Lionel said as he turned to open the opposite door.

Lex noticed Lucas was grinning happily and he began to wonder if maybe he intended to try and produce another illegitimate child or even claim Lex had a child.

What walked through the door made Lex's blood run cold.

Standing in the opposite doorway was an exact copy of himself.

"You have no idea what you've done." Lex said in a near whisper as he watched the other him smirk at him. "You made a clone."

"I can't believe I allowed myself to become so… weak." The clone sneered. "You actually let others control you and dictate how to do things. Luthors lead!"

"So this is why you wanted me alone… so you could replace me with a clone." Lex said as he braced himself for a fight. He didn't want to reveal magic but he knew he could erase their memories if he needed to. The priority was getting rid of the clone before it could do any damage.

"At least I haven't become totally inept." The clone sighed. It moved so quickly that Lex never realised it.

He never heard the gunshot.

Never felt the bullet slam through his forehead and into his brain.

Lex Matheson never realised he was dead as he crumpled to the floor, lifeless.

The sight of his lifeless body saddened the soul of Lex Matheson. But what really upset him was that he would never get to marry Helen, never be able to warn Helen and Tess of what had happened. He knew that once Harry got back he would see that a clone was there and deal with it, but for now his family was safe with Jonathan Kent on Themiscyra.

But then he noticed someone else in the room he couldn't see before… maybe he had earned his reward.

"I thought we were going to pump him for information first!" Lucas snapped.

***BANG***

Lucas Luthor fell to the ground just as dead as his half-brother.

"What are you doing?" Lionel demanded as he snatched the gun from the clone's hand.

"There is only one heir to the Luthor fortune. Don't ever forget that, Father." The new Lex Luthor stated blandly. "I'll wait to decide what to do about my dear sister." He said mockingly.

"There will be no more unnecessary killing!" Lionel growled. "Now get out of here whilst I arrange for this mess to be cleared up."

"As you wish." Lex shrugged. As he opened the door with a key he paused and without looking back said: "Please be out of the Mansion before eight tonight. I refuse to sleep in some little bitches bed."

Lionel just glared at his "son's" back as he exited.

* * *

Loki sat impatiently waiting for Lex to reappear. She had already tampered with the video cameras to show nothing but soap operas and all the chairs to either collapse or act like whoopee cushions.

She was the Goddess of Mischief after all.

After about ten minutes she saw Lex march back into the conference room, Cuthbert was not with him. The look on his face did not look good, he appeared very closed off.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"I have come to an arrangement with my father. I will no longer need your services. I trust you can find your own way out." He said as he continued walking without missing a beat.

"Excuse me?!" Loki screeched. "Just who do you think you are talking to?"

"My former attorney." Lex said as he walked through the door and slammed it behind him.

Loki just fumed as she grabbed her briefcase and teleported straight to the limo.

"Let us be gone brother. Something is most definitely wrong but we will need the skills of Jean or Emma to discover more."

The privacy screen lowered to show Thor sitting in the drivers seat wearing a traditional limo driver's suit and cap.

"What of young Lex?"

"I do not know." She said with irritability that Thor was relieved to see was not directed at him. "I believe foul play has occurred and we may have been betrayed. I need to see the contracts that involve Lex Luthor and Lex Matheson as I believe we are in for a lot of trouble."

"Then we shall make all due haste." Thor nodded as he started the engine and pulled off from the front of the building, just as Lex walked out.

The imposter snarled at the departing cab before pulling out a phone attempting to track down the company so he could have the fool fired. Many people would feel the wrath of Lex Luthor that day… but it would be all for nothing.

* * *

**A/N: SPOILER ALERT**

I thought I should put a note in about Lex... yes I killed him!

I spent all that time making him the good guy and now he is dead and replaced by a bad version.

I had my reasons.

Will you miss the good Lex? I hope so.

Is this the last we will see of good Lex? Not even remotely.

If you have the patience things will get better... if you tend to drop a story for the slightest thing... your choice.

Besides... its not like this evil Lex isn't going to suffer.


	34. Chapter 34

Before returning to Japan, Clark had discovered the rest of the crystals in the space capsule. He had taken them with him back to the house he and the others would be staying at and where they would be safe. He then headed back to MBI.

What he found was chaos. The building was literally falling apart and the magicals amongst them were trying to catch falling debris whilst the others were attempting to evacuate the building.

"You can't stop it?" Clark asked Scott as he landed next to the former leader of the X-Men.

"All of the support beams are gone. None of us has the power to hold this thing up or rebuild it. Harry could do it but he's the reason we're in this mess!" Scott groused.

Clark looked at the building, cracks were forming down the side and there were large holes from where the explosions had occurred.

"Where's Kusano?" He asked suddenly.

"Matsu has her over there." He nodded his head.

Clark quickly zipped across to where the two females were trying to stay safe under large tree that Clark was sure Kusano had made grow.

"Hey Ku, you know that building is going to collapse?"

Ku nodded. "It's going to be loud, isn't it?"

"Very loud. I was wondering if you could ask your plants to help hold it up?" He asked.

"How?" She asked.

"Clark, that building is huge!" Matsu warned. "She might not be able to sustain that much power."

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Clark smiled reassuringly.

"But I don't know how." Ku said worriedly.

"I'll show you." Clark took Ku by the hand and led her over to Neville.

"Clark, how's the bastard?" Neville enquired as he stood there zapping falling debris into blobs of water.

"Language!" Ku barked as she imitated Miya.

"Oh, sorry Kusano, I shouldn't have said that." Neville said sincerely.

"Minato is safe and secure. But this building could do a lot of damage. I want to see if Kusano can get her plants to stabilise the structure."

"Details Clark, give me details."

"We take her into the building and show her where to grow branches and trunks where to fill places in with vines. But I need someone to help shield her. A magical."

"Alright, but let's do this quickly. Jean is in there right now trying to secure all the beams she can and that is the only reason the whole thing hasn't fallen."

"Hey!"

"Oh, right. Also because Matsu here managed to hack the building and stop most of the bombs going off." Neville amended.

"Thank you." Matsu said appeased.

Neville, Clark and Matsu led Kusano into the building where they explained to her what they needed her to do. Quite simply they had her grow one large tree in the auditorium that held up the bottom floor. They then had her grow strong vines up the walls. They then moved onto the next floor where Clark cut a whole in the floor and Ku made the tree grow higher and the vines grow further. They did this for three floors before Clark questioned whether the tree would be structurally sound any higher.

"This is a magical tree of my own creation." Neville assured him. "I developed it when Harry and I were young, we never had tree houses and the such so we decided to make one, a really big one."

Clark looked at Neville suspiciously. "Just how old where you?"

"Erm… 372?"

"That's ancient!" Matsu exclaimed.

"He's over twenty million years old, Matsu. 372 is just a drop in the ocean." Clark laughed softly. He honestly didn't think Harry had ever grown up, and he felt he had proof in Neville and Xander.

It took them two hours to reach the top and Ku was tuckered out, even though she put a brave face on. She was fighting her eyelids from her comfortable perch in Clark's arms.

"You did very well Kusano. Go to sleep and I'll wake you for dinner." Clark whispered into her ear as he pulled his cloak around and wrapped little Ku up in it.

"She might be as powerful as Miya." Matsu said reverently.

"In a way, yes." Neville nodded as they stood on the buildings balcony. Behind them was nothing but steps leading to where the clock had been. "Little Kusano has a great deal of power but she also works with the natural power of life. The plants hear her call and they respond and they love her and her innocence." Neville explained as he led them back inside to an empty conference room.

"The building is secure, safe and empty." Xander announced as the magicals teleported in with Homura, Miya, Musubi and Uzume.

"What did you do with Minaka?" Emma asked Clark.

"I asked the Amazons to imprison him on behalf of the gods and Aspects until Harry returns. The capsule is at the castle and the crystals are at the house."

"You have the rest of the crystals?" Matsu asked excitedly. "We can get Takehito back then, right?"

"We'll have to see." Jean tried to keep everyone on an even keel and not get to hopeful. "We will need to study the crystals and interrogate Minaka."

"I'll go with Jean to interrogate Minaka." Xander spoke up. "I have some talent in reading minds myself if he becomes a problem."

"Causing a person to piss themselves in fear so they blab or can't concentrate on hiding their thoughts is _not_ a mind reading talent!" Neville exclaimed exasperatedly.

"You're just jealous because you aren't as intimidating as me!" Xander sniffed causing Matsu, Musubi and Uzume to giggle.

"Where are Logan and the twins?" Clark asked.

"They went back to release Yukari and Sheena." Uzume grinned.

"When did Yukari turn up, whose Sheena and why are they locked up?" Clark asked curiously.

"Soon after you left to come here. Sheena is 107 and was raised as Kusano's big brother. Kusano locked them in a big plant until Yukari agreed to be Sheena's Ashikabi." Xander smiled happily.

"That was all your idea, wasn't it?" Clark asked him.

"I can neither confirm nor-"

"Neville?"

"Every little bit of it." Neville nodded as he looked at Xander with a dry look.

"Traitor." Xander accused.

"Child!"

"Green thumb!"

"I keep telling you, that's not an insult."

"Gentlemen, could we please stay on track here?" Emma interrupted them.

"This building is temporarily secure and safe." Xander said with a small pout. "We need to give another run through and fill in any gaps or areas we missed."

"We also need someone to man the reception and prevent people from entering. How will we explain this to the employees and authorities?" Clark asked.

"Jean and I will get Minaka to sign over the company giving us full control." Xander answered. "In the meantime I suggest Scott and Emma stay in the reception area and deal with visitors."

"I can probably hack the computers and change a lot of the ownership details now that I am onsite." Matsu offered.

"Put everything in the name of Clark Joseph Kent. His mother, Martha Kent, holds legal responsibility until he becomes a legal adult." Scott said quickly.

"My name? Why?"

"Spoils of war Clark." Scott said. "If you don't claim them, then someone else will try and take them and you can't trust that they will be as noble as you. Down the line you might find an apprentice or one of your children might be good enough to take over. But in the meantime, this is all yours."

"War?"

"It can take many forms." Xander stepped up. "I don't believe this one is finished yet either, we just happen to have won a decisive battle."

"Shouldn't we share the 'spoils'?" Clark asked with air-quotes.

"No, we are here in servitude to the god Kal-El." Neville said quickly. "It is the only way we could help you and not insult the other pantheons."

"I can't wait till we get Harry back." Clark sighed.

* * *

Loki was trying to investigate the various business news of the day in the hopes that she would be able to discern what had made Lex become so hostile. She didn't find much other than the fact that Martha had called to ask why Lex was trying to sign out Kryptonite in large amounts. Loki had told her to deny the action and send every request her way so she could examine it.

Of course then she had to phone Martha back to let her know that Clark was now the owner of a large Japanese company and that she would have more documents to sign. When Martha had asked how she was supposed to handle more business matters and the farm Loki had just told her to have Jonathan send more Amazons.

Fortunately Thor had been there and promised Martha that he would be over soon.

This left Loki alone in the castle with Cassandra and the Jenkins family. Jodie was off on holiday with her father and Ryan was with Martha helping on the farm.

Then the doorbell went. Loki sighed as she stood from Amara's desk and walked to the front door.

"Are we expecting anyone?" Cassandra asked as she met Loki in the entrance hall.

"No, and I am far too busy for this." She said grumpily. She was beginning to get very tetchy.

Cassandra opened the wooden door to find Lex standing there with Earl lurking just behind. "Lex, everything ok?"

"I would prefer if you would address me as Mr. Luthor." He sneered. "And would you please call off this dog of yours." He snapped as he indicated Earl.

"What do you want?" Loki asked with narrowed eyes.

"I need to speak with Clark Kent."

"Regarding?" Loki prompted.

"That is a private matter between myself and Mr. Kent." That sneer seemed to be permanently etched onto Lex's face.

"Well Mr. Kent is a minor, his mother holds guardianship until he reaches adult age and I currently manage his legal affairs. If you wish to discuss anything then I suggest you make an appointment with my office and I will arrange a meeting between yourself, Mrs. Kent and I."

"This is an urgent matter, I do not have time to make phone calls or deal with secretaries." Lex growled.

"Then I suggest you hurry up and get your phone out." Loki smirked as she slammed the door in Lex's face.

"You took a lot of pleasure in that." Cassandra laughed. "But was it really necessary?"

"Did you notice how he treated us? He was nothing like the Lex we've grown to love. Besides, I saw a limo in the drive. He didn't use magic to come here. I don't think he knows who we are."

"You think he's an imposter?" Cassie asked seriously.

"That or he's been brainwashed. We've seen it happen before."

Earl teleported in next to them. "He's gone. Did he hit his head and get partial amnesia?"

"I _hope_ that's all it is." Loki sighed. "I need to call Martha, I think Lex might try and talk to her now."

"I could teleport you over." Earl offered.

"Thank you, but no. If he doesn't remember magic then I won't be able to explain how I beat him there." Loki said as she patted the man's large arms gratefully.

* * *

Jean had to flame Clark and Xander to the palace on Themiscyra where Xander immediately leapt into Clark's arms just prior to leaving.

Clark was completely confused as to why he was cradling Xander like a damsel in distress. "What are you doing?"

"Men aren't allowed to step foot on the island with out the blessing of the goddesses." Xander answered with a grin.

"Then fly." Clark said as he unceremoniously dropped Xander where he was standing.

"Lord Kal-El, are you intent on re-populating the island with men or is there something else we should be worried about?" A dark-haired woman in regal robes asked in amusement. Her name was Phoebe and she was the Queen's Handmaiden and often looked to as the second in command of the island, for now she served Jonathan until Amara returned.

"No, this is Lord Death's father, Xander Harris, he likes to think he's funny." Clark said seriously. "I beg your patience with him."

Phoebe quite liked her new Queen and her family. This new godling was proving to be just what was needed to dispel the myths of men that many of the Amazons had accepted as fact. His father, the Lord Regent, was a fair and just man; it was very disheartening to see a man be so decent when their former queen, Hippolyta, was despicable to men and any who questioned her opinion on them.

"Can I assume the Lord Regent will approve?" She asked with that same amused tone.

"Approve is probably not the word I would use. The best I can say is he won't have the guards try and run him through with their spears." Clark allowed.

"I will alert you father that you have arrived." She laughed as she turned and walked off.

"And they say you have no sense of humour." Xander grinned at Clark.

"_His_ sense of humour was never in question." Jean interrupted. "Harry's, and by extension, yours, most definitely are."

"Clark!" The trio turned to see Lana and Chloe walk into the entrance to the palace where they were waiting. "Come for the interrogation?" Chloe asked.

"Yes. Hopefully we can get what we need out of Minaka and then start on getting Harry back." Clark nodded. "By the way, there are a few people that might be coming over from Japan to stay. They will probably keep calling Harry, 'Takehito'. It's the name he was going by."

"I guess we won't meet them for a few years." Lana sighed.

"Why? This thing with getting Harry back better not take more than a few days." Xander said hopefully.

"We are going to be spending at least a year here." Chloe explained. "Thor and Loki brought a time travel device here so we could return to this point, or to a point in a week or so. I think they want to wait until you get Harry back."

"We promise to work as quickly as we can." Jean smiled.

"And we'll start now." Jonathan declared as he entered the entrance hall with his ever-present guards. "Girls, you have places to be." He told Chloe and Lana pointedly. They quickly hurried off. "Let's get this done. These ladies are getting antsy with Amara and Diana missing."

"I may not be reading your mind Jonathan Kent, but even I know you are lying." Jean warned him with a slight smile.

"Fine! I miss my wife!"

"Awwww!"

"Shut up!"

* * *

"You! Find me Martha Kent."

Mila, the young Amazon looked up from where she was sweeping up the loose hay in the Kent barn. There was a man standing there, she knew the man was Lex, he was a friend of Martha and Lord Kal-El, but he looked… different.

"Pardon?"

"Are you deaf or just incompetent?" Lex snapped. "Find me Martha Kent!"

"I'm right here, Lex. And I don't appreciate the way you are addressing Mila. I don't know what has gotten into you but-"

"I have no time for your righteous opinion, I just want to buy the remaining shares of LexCorp and be done with this town."

"They are not for sale." Martha said simply as the other three Amazons moved to stand behind Martha with Mila.

"Everything is for sale." He said dismissively.

"You are entitled to that belief, but don't assume others will humour you." She warned. "If that is all then I'll ask you to leave, Mr. Matheson."

"It's Luthor." Lex said angrily. "I am not here to be toyed with. I want those shares and you will sell them to me."

"Be very careful Mr. _Luthor_, you are getting dangerously close to threatening."

As she spoke the Amazons began to spread out defensively.

"You are on private property. Now leave."

"You will be hearing from my lawyers." Lex snapped as he spun on his heel and marched back to his waiting limo only to slip in a rather wet patch of mud causing the women to giggle.

Lex picked himself up and continued on without looking back.

As the limo pulled away Martha turned to Mila. "You are a very naughty girl!" She teased with a huge smile.

"He deserved it! If he had spoken to our Queen or even our Lord Regent like that we would have gutted him like a pig! Making him trip was nothing."

The other Amazons were nodding seriously.

Martha pulled the tall yet young woman into a hug. "Thank you, ladies. But just remember the laws and rules are different here, ok?"

* * *

Clark, Jean and Xander returned to the house in Japan only have Yukari descend on Clark and Xander like a dog after a rabbit.

"YOU! Both of you!" She pointed a finger at a worried Clark and a smirking Xander. "Let's start with you buddy! You had Kusano trap Sheena and me in that plant and then you _forgot_ about us whilst all the fighting was going on."

"And at what point did you and Sheena realise that Sheena could get you out of there with very little effort?" Xander smiled knowingly.

Yukari blushed vividly but then seemed to rally. "That is not the point! The point is that you _forgot_ about us!"

"I didn't forget, I just decided you were safer in there and had more important things to deal with." Xander shrugged. "Did you deal with those important things?"

The blush returned with a small smile.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Who's Sheena?" Clark asked.

"Kusano's opposite, Number 107. Didn't you read the information on the Sekirei?"

"I was a little busy trying to focus on infiltrating MBI and capturing Minaka."

"YOU!" Yukari suddenly remembered she had issues with Clark as well.

"I wasn't even there!"

"No, you made Kusano use all that power and energy and she wiped herself out!"

"I had several experts and at least one doctor on hand." Clark pointed out. "She is probably just tired because it was a long day."

Yukari's mouth opened and closed several times as she tried to come up with a point to further her argument.

"Relax kid, just go with the flow." Xander said as he patted Yukari on the back and walked past her.

Clark just smirked and followed leaving a discombobulated girl just standing there with her finger pointing accusingly at nothing.

"So what did you find out?" Scott asked the trio as they found or conjured seats in the living room.

"That I hope Harry let's me kill Minaka." Xander growled.

"I get first dibs." Logan argued lightly. "I know exactly what he's done and what he's capable of _and_ I had to put up with him for more than two decades."

Xander looked like he was about to object, but then decided against it. "The Wolverine gets to kill him."

"The answer you're looking for is that Minaka didn't really know what he was doing. He used some sort of ritual he discovered in the ships database." Clark answered.

"Ship?" Emma asked.

"All the Sekirei are aliens, like me. But their ship is badly damaged and has been pillaged by MBI."

"What was the ritual supposed to do?" Scott asked.

"Minaka thinks it is supposed to banish the target to another dimension, but he's wrong or he did the ritual wrong." Clark said with a smile. "Harry is _in_ the crystals."

"And you know this, how?" Homura asked.

"Because I can feel him when I touch them. I can almost hear him talking to me."

"You can? I've had that one crystal for years and I never felt anything." Matsu pointed out.

"Clark and Harry have a deep connection. The Master and Apprentice bond." Neville said softly. "He didn't do it on purpose." He went on to assure Clark. "It's the same sort of bond that Aphrodite has with Love."

Clark nodded. "An Avatar Bond."

"Essentially, yes."

Logan vanished from the table only to reappear seconds later with the eight Jinki crystals. "You know 'Jinki' literally means 'god vessel'. It would explain why it took all of them to contain Harry." Logan said as he placed the crystals on the table and pushed them over to Clark.

"They come from a time of gods among our people." Miya said softly. "When combined they have the power to terminate all the Sekirei."

"Uh huh… once we get Takehito back I recommend we destroy them." Yukari said, the others nodded in agreement.

"No… have to do it now." Clark said as he stood up and pulled out his hammer quickly swinging it.

"CLARK!" "WAIT!"

The cries were too late as the hammer impacted the crystals turning them into dust.

"Well it's about fucking time!"

Miya was instantly up ladle in hand.

"Darling, put that away. It'll be another couple of minutes before I have a body for you to molest."

Everyone looked to the voice as they saw Harry's ethereal form appear.

"Why do you have clothes when you are like that but nobody else does?" Clark asked as he realised that Harry was wearing a casual shirt and trouser combo.

"I'm special." He grinned. "Thanks for getting me out of there. I was having flashbacks to when I was the last man alive." He said with a shudder.

"Wait, what about the others?" Jean asked.

"I can feel myself connecting with them, they will be fine… although they should have woken up by now." Harry frowned.

"They were in so much pain we had to put them into induced comas." Jean explained. "The bonds were severed."

"Ah… I can imagine. Haven't had that much pain in… ever."

"Worse than going into the sun?" Clark asked.

"Much worse. Now, where's that bastard Minaka?" Harry scowled.

"Themiscyra, I asked the Amazons to hold on to him as they don't have technology." Clark answered. "We should probably take him to Odin so you can deal with him in front of the other gods. They sent me here to find you."

"Hey! I have first dibs on gutting him." Logan spoke up, popping his metal claws.

"Whoa! Did you know he could do that?" Matsu asked Miya.

"Yes, he used them when he taught me to cook." She smirked.

Harry and Scott turned and grinned at Logan.

"The Mighty Wolverine has resorted to using his famed claws as cooking knives?" Harry taunted.

"Yeah, well you might not realise it but you never taught your missus how to cook. She damned near burnt the inn down after you vanished."

"Tease Logan later. The gods have waited long enough." Jean scolded.

"Fine. Miya, you're coming with us. Neville, Dad, you too. Nice to see you both by the way."

"Likewise." Neville smiled softly.

With that the group vanished.

"Ok, I am going to go and wake up the girls. You try and figure out why we can't teleport out of Japan." Jean instructed as she flamed out.

"Didn't she just-"

"No, she's a Phoenix, she has a different method of transportation." Scott answered Uzume.

"But the end result is the same?" Homura pointed out.

"So is getting on a plane." Emma said.

"So, MBI?" Scott asked with a sigh.

"It would seem to be our best chance at finding more information." Emma nodded. "But you _will_ be taking us on vacation after this is over." She said sternly.

"The Savage Land?"

"Where else?" Emma grinned lasciviously.

* * *

Odin's court was packed. It was the most eclectic gathering of gods since Athena of the mutant's universe called for a meeting to deal with the Skrull gods during the invasion of Earth.

Odin was on his throne as this was his domain. Kal-El was a member of his pantheon and all of the work had gone through his court. At his left hand stood Zeus and Aphrodite, on his right was Baldur, the heir to the Asgardian throne.

Arrayed on either side were the various gods of the many pantheons.

"Lord Death, it is good to have you back." Odin said seriously as he rose and gave a low bow that was repeated by the other gods.

"Kal-El does good work." Harry smiled. "He has brought me back, freed me from the captivity and also caught the culprit alive and well for our judgement. Know this, all of you. Lord Kal-El of Krypton, the Asgard God of Thunder has proven himself ready to stand on his own. He is no longer my Apprentice, he is my Avatar and the equal of all Avatars."

Clark tried to keep his face straight. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. It felt like he had been cut lose and that he no longer had the backup and support he had before with Harry's guidance. A chill fluttered down his back but he remained stoic.

"We agree." Odin nodded. "Lord Kal-El has exceeded all expectation and quashed any doubts. We consider him a full adult god. When he calls on us now we will stand beside him and follow his lead." Odin smiled at Clark.

Clark bowed low to the gods. It was the only response he could come up with as he didn't trust his mouth yet.

"Kal-El Jonathanson, present your prisoner." Baldur instructed from his place next to Odin's throne.

Clark grabbed the unconscious form on the ground by the back of his ridiculous white lab coat with the high collar and held him up easily. "I present Minaka Hiroto, the man who though he could defeat Death just so he could enslave a race of beings and use them for his own entertainment." He gave a nod to Logan who cast an _Enervate_.

"What? What happened? Where am I?" The Super-Genius asked.

"You are in the Court of the Gods, mortal." Odin addressed him his face as dark as a thundercloud. "You have committed what is considered the highest crime in all of existence. The sentence can only be death. The only reason we haven't killed you yet is because we haven't determined when you will die, how you will die and how you will suffer until you do die."

"Don't I get a lawyer?" Minaka asked weakly.

He was ignored.

"Due to the impact that this has had on existence, I have decided to allow the Court of the Gods to determine the time of his demise and his fate until that time arrives. The only stipulation I have is that The Wolverine will act as my mortal executioner and I will deal with his soul myself." Harry addressed the court.

"We will need to imprison him somewhere whilst the Court deliberates." Odin mused. "Each of our pantheons would relish the chance to throw him in our hell pits, but reaching an accord is never easy with the gods." He chuckled.

"Make the bastard a new special cell, leave him in Death's home world which is desolate. Each pantheon can add their own little feature to his cell. Then when you have made your decision on his fate, retrieve him and let lose." Xander suggested.

"The Father of Death has spoken. Do any object to his suggestion?" Baldur called out loudly.

There were murmurs but nothing to be considered an objection.

"So be it." Odin nodded. "We will send our Underworld Gods to build the cage and then call upon you to transfer him to the desolate world of Lord Death." Odin declared.

* * *

Jean had the girls up fairly quickly; she refused to tell the story of what happened until they were altogether with Harry and the others as she didn't want to repeat herself. The problem came with Heimdall.

Jean awoke him quickly enough but he was clearly in agony.

Only one phrase issued from his mouth over and over again.

"Father!"

It was horrible to hear the usually strong and unbreakable Heimdall call plaintively for his father. Even Brunhilde couldn't calm her son.

Fortunately Harry heard his son.

"Oh son, I didn't know you would be affected like this." Harry said sadly as he caressed the Asgard's cheek tenderly. "I will be a few minutes." He told the others as he turned back and stared into Heimdall's eyes.

"Does anyone know what happened?" Dani asked impatiently.

"At this point we have more important things to worry about." Amara said soothingly. "Diana and I need to return to Themiscyra to assure the Amazons we are alright."

"Jonathan will be so pleased you are up." Jean grinned. "He loves what he is doing but he's missing Martha."

"Jonathan is there, why?" Amara asked.

"Aphrodite appointed him Lord Regent in your absence. She wanted him as he was one of the few men she knew would be beneficial to the Amazons in getting them used to the males of the species."

"Not Clark?"

"Clark was assigned by Odin on behalf of the gods to find Harry."

"Odin made the request himself?" Diana asked in awe. She was used to Aphrodite coming around by now but for a king of the gods to do so was incredible.

"He did, but it was _all_ the gods, Diana. Every pantheon came together for this. The gods of other realities and dimensions where threatening to come as well. Even the Aspects began to move."

"Whoa… that's… epic." Dani muttered in awe.

"Easy Heimdall, easy." They turned as they saw Harry help the significantly larger Heimdall off his specially enlarged bed.

"Tell me again how you managed to give birth to him?" Lorna whispered loudly to Brunhilde.

"Brother, are you well?" Sif asked worriedly as she ignored Lorna's yelp of pain from Hilde's head slap.

"I will be, Sister. I merely need time. You need not concern yourself." Heimdall assured her in his deep voice.

This was not what Sif wanted to hear. "Of course I am concerned! You were in agony! Father had to come and heal you. What was wrong?" She demanded of Harry.

"Your brother wasn't in a coma like the rest of you. Physically he may have been. But he was fully aware, part of his nature really."

"What are you saying Husband?" Hilde asked quietly.

"That he was feeling the pain the whole time I was gone." Harry told them, his eyes had an almost dead look to them.

"By the gods." Diana gasped.

"I am not the only one who suffered." Heimdall said sadly as he looked at his father.

"I'm used to pain. It was just a few months ago that I spent a few days in the heart of the sun. This was worse… but… I don't really care. I just hate that you suffered."

"I believe we would all agree that the benefits of our bonds outweigh the issues." He smiled softly.


	35. Chapter 35

Clark was back at the demolished Inn helping with the work to rebuild it. He had spent all day at MBI with Matsu, Loki and Emma signing documents that would put him in control of MBI. His mother was drafted in to co-sign as his guardian, Harry signed as Minaka in his form so the witnesses believe it was legitimate. He was just glad to be doing something other than signing, especially after what he had witnessed earlier that day in Asgard.

"You're brooding."

Clark spun around to see Xander smirking at him.

"You have too many good things in your life to spend time brooding, Clark. What's got you down?" Xander asked as he prepared to cut a piece of wood.

"Harry didn't just kill Minaka, he let the gods have him so they could torture him. And there was no time limit." Clark scowled as he began working on his own piece of wood.

"Had to be done." Xander nodded. "When all is said and done with this business with Minaka, just remember that he nearly robbed the world of an Aspect. Imagine if he had tried to kill Love. What would a world with out love be like? There would be no compassion, just fear, need, want… people wouldn't respect each other… love is the basis for many of these things, otherwise people like Genghis Khan would still be ruling the planet."

"Harry and the gods have to be this extreme." Neville said as he joined them. "They need to send a message to everyone that this is what awaits those that meddle with the Aspects. The name Minaka Hiroto will go down in legend. The Ultimate Evil."

"It's just hard to realise that right now there is a man suffering out there." Clark said quietly.

"Then remember that the world is full of people who are suffering and Minaka has earned his. Death is the only release that some of those suffering people will get and he wanted to rob them of that." Xander said firmly.

"Heads up. We've got company." Logan grunted as he dropped some lumber in the corner.

"Greetings, I am looking for Clark Kent." A man in a white suit said with a slight bow. Very slight.

"What do you want Higa?" Logan snarled.

"Ah, I see you have heard of me." Higa smirked. "You are Clark Kent, yes?" He turned to Clark.

"He asked you a question." Clark said bluntly.

"I wish to discuss a business proposition."

None of the men said anything. They just stood there waiting.

"Perhaps we can continue this conversation privately in my limo?" Higa suggested.

"These men are part of my advisory team. They are highly educated and know far more than me. Anything you want to discuss you can do so in front of them." Clark said firmly.

Higa didn't look entirely comfortable with that, but he managed to maintain most of his façade.

"I wish to propose you sell me your control of MBI. I would be willing to pay a generous figure."

"I am not interested in selling. Thank you very much for-"

"I believe I have a suitable incentive." Higa interrupted him. "You have Sekirei Number 10, here, yes?"

Instantly their demeanour shifted to a more defensive and battle ready stance.

"Please, gentlemen. Even if you were able to take on a single Sekirei, you are greatly outnumbered." Higa said condescendingly as he indicated the rooftops across the street where several female figures where visible. "I'm sure we can resolve this without violence. I merely wish Number 10 to confirm some things for you."

Clark gave Logan a look and the oft-feral mutant moved off.

There was a tense silence as they waited for Logan to return with Uzume.

"Ah, Number 10."

"Her name is Uzume. A little respect goes a long way." Clark glared.

Higa waved a hand dismissively. "Number 10, Mr. Kent here has refused to accept my generous offer to buy MBI from him. I have decided that I would be willing to include the treatment details of _your_ Ashikabi as part of the deal. If he refuses to accept then… things will not look good for Chiho Hidaka."

"You're threatening her Ashikabi?" Xander growled, his eyes beginning to turn yellow the angrier he got.

"I have no reason to do anything to her or Miss Yukari Sahashi if you accept my offer."

"Would one of you please contact Jean or Emma, quickly?" Clark said emotionlessly as he maintained his gaze on Higa.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave. Number 10, please escort Mr. Kent to my limo."

Uzume looked completely beaten. It was obvious she didn't want to do this but felt she had no other choice.

Clark turned to the other men. "Fix this and let me know when you're done." He said firmly. He then took Uzume's hand and led her to the limo himself.

"A wise choice Mr. Kent." Higa smarmed. "I trust you will enjoy the treatment of my Sekirei?" Higa smirked at the men as the door to the white limo closed. He turned and headed for the limo himself as he raised his hand and gave a signal and the figures on the roof leapt into the air and headed for them.

"We aren't killing this lot, right?" Xander asked.

"Not this time, Xander." Neville said seriously. "Jean is working we just need to wait for her to find the right information and rescue the two hostages. In the meantime… I guess we get some practice. You still in shape Old Man?"

"I'm always in shape." Logan grunted.

Xander just snorted. "He was talking to me, Kid."

* * *

"Uzume, listen to me very carefully. Remember just how powerful Takehito is. The others are about to rescue Chiho and Yukari, we just need to wait for them to finish before we can make a move." Clark said quickly as they waited for Higa to enter the limo.

Uzume looked doubtful but took a deep breath and nodded in acceptance.

"I'm sure we can complete our transaction quickly Mr. Kent, and then you can return to America, I'm afraid you will have to leave your Sekirei here, but I will take good care of them." Higa smiled as he entered the limo.

Clark rolled his eyes as the vehicle moved off. "We both know you intend to kill me. You can't afford any lose ends."

"Yes, but how quickly and painlessly you die is up to you."

Uzume gasped.

Clark just looked at her as if to say 'see?'

They travelled a few streets before Clark was treated to the same experience he had with Emma not so long ago. The car leapt into the air as an explosion occurred beneath it. Clark immediately caught Uzume and protected her from damage. Higa was left to enjoy the experience in its entirety.

This time the limo came to a stop on its side. Clark punched open the door and climbed out before reaching down to help Uzume out.

He looked around and saw Tsukiumi marching down the road again.

"What does she want this time?" Clark groaned.

"I suggest you deal with her Number 10. If you want your Ashikabi to survive." Higa said as he struggled out of the limo.

"Thou wilst unhand my Ashikabi fiend!"

"Huh… that's new." Clark mused in mild surprise. "Leave this to me."

"I think not, Mr. Kent. Your signature is required." Higa sneered as he grabbed Clark's arm.

"That is Number 9. This is Number 10. Uzume is out matched. I, on the other hand, am that Sekirei's Ashikabi. I can end this without violence and in time for you to call another car." Clark said with a slight mocking tone.

"Fine." Higa growled. "But don't try anything, all it takes is one phone call and Number 10 will be without an Ashikabi."

Clark shrugged out of his grasp and began walking to Tsukiumi.

"A wise move monkey. I will let you go with a warning this time." She declared haughtily.

"Tsukiumi. Nice to see you again." Clark nodded at the buxom blonde. "Why are you here?"

"My place is by my husband." She said as though it were obvious.

"You're married?!" Clark asked in shock.

"But of course, you claimed me as thy wife when you winged me… you do intend to fulfil your responsibilities, don't you?" She asked dangerously.

Clark's mind stalled for a second. There could be no way he was married. He wasn't going to be sixteen for a few more months. "You know what… you can take that up with my parents." Clark said as he decided to pass the buck. Set him up to deal with people hopped up on Kryptonite, beings that feed on fear or even the gods… but a woman claiming to be his wife… he needed to call in the cavalry.

"Acceptable." She nodded, seemingly appeased.

Clark noticed another limousine pull up. "Listen we have to go with-"

"_Clark we have both girls safe and sound."_ Jean's voice sounded in his head.

"_Great. Do I need to deal with Higa myself or is someone available to come and help?"_

The next thing Clark knew Logan appeared in front of him and was marching straight to a shocked Higa. Clark grimaced as Logan had his claws out. Unlike Laura's he had three on each hand as opposed to two.

"Logan, make sure he can sign the paperwork to hand his business over to us." Clark called out.

Clark couldn't help the amused snort as he saw Logan halt and his shoulders slump in clear disappointment.

* * *

"Congratulations Diana, you are no longer the new girl!" Dani teased as Harry introduced his soul mates to Miya back at the castle.

"My understanding is that I have been married to Take-Harry longer than you have known Diana." Miya smiled softly.

"Call him whatever you want." Lorna said dismissively. "We aren't talking about how long _you've_ known Harry. We are talking about how long you have been part of the group."

"Speaking of, shall we conduct the procedure now, Husband?" Brunhilde enquired.

"Procedure?" Miya asked with a hint of worry.

"You are to be one of us, dear, a soul mate. Our husband will join your soul to his and his to yours. Then you will truly be one of us." She explained.

"But I thought you could not make me emerge?" She asked Harry.

"I said I couldn't do it yet. With all the time travel it could have caused lots of problems. I also won't be making you emerge until after our souls are joined."

"Don't worry, you'll love it." Phoebe smiled reassuringly.

"All the love you will feel is amazing." Celeste gushed.

"And all the love you will make wi-"

"Mindee!" Laura barked at her friend with a wry smile. "Ignore that one, I think she gets most of the libido."

"No, that would be Dani." Lorna said dryly.

"Let's do this quickly. Diana and I need to get to Themiscyra." Amara urged.

"Yeah, from what Jean said he might have started rallying the Amazons to lead an assault on the farm to reclaim his wife." Dani giggled.

"He wouldn't?" Diana asked worriedly.

"I was joking." Dani laughed. "Martha is the one we need to worry about." She teased.

"Alright Miya, just relax and do as I say. This won't hurt at all." Harry said softly as he knelt in front of his purple-haired spouse as she sat on the couch.

"One second." Phoebe interrupted as she and Mindee took positions either side of Miya. They placed a hand on her shoulders and one on either side of her head. Miya's eyes widened in fright.

"Oh, don't worry." Celeste assured her. "When Harry does his thing you will lose control of your body, we are just making sure your body doesn't slump uncomfortably until you regain control."

Miya only relaxed slightly.

"No one here will harm you." Brunhilde said firmly.

They all watched as Harry pushed his soul beyond his physical form. His ethereal soul was nearly perfect, but beneath the clothes he wore there were still a multitude of cuts and gashes from the many soul mates he lost due to mortality prior to his joining with the Phoenix Cuckoos.

Miya looked on in wonder as the Harry's soul reached into her chest and she felt herself pulled forward.

"Ok, now reach into Harry and grab a handful of his soul." Phoebe instructed.

Miya's ethereal self nodded and did as she was told.

"Good, now whatever happens, don't let go of that."

Harry smiled at her as he gently pushed her back into her body.

Miya gasped as she regained control of physical self. "It feels… wonderful."

"We know. We can feel it." Celeste said with a dreamy smile as she revelled in the new bond that was spreading through them.

Harry took Miya's hand and raised her to her feet. "The process of bonding a Sekirei is a partial soul bond. But not like the one I just created. A Sekirei can draw power from the soul of their Ashikabi. I wanted you to have a true bond with the rest of us before I helped you emerge."

"This won't affect our bond now?" She asked as Harry pulled her into tight embrace.

He didn't answer; he just leaned in and kissed her passionately.

The others watched as Miya lit the room with a blinding purple-tinged light. It was painful to watch and they had to shield their eyes as two solid wings of purple light emerged from her back like the wings of an angel. Unlike the other Sekirei the wings didn't fade, the light did recede though.

"Wow. Those are beautiful." Dani whispered.

"The only wings I have seen as beautiful as that are Pixies." Lorna added.

"Wings? I was talking about her breasts." Dani frowned.

Harry and Miya looked down to see that Miya's wings had shredded her clothing and she was now standing naked before them. She instantly moved her hands to cover her modesty as she moved behind Harry.

"Honey, we are going to be spending a lot of time naked." Dani said with a lick of her lips. "This is no time to be bashful."

"Yes it is!"

The women spun around to see Clark Kent standing with his back to them and Laura trying not to laugh.

"Clark, what are you doing here?" Brunhilde demanded.

"I brought him." Laura said in his defence. "He is Harry's apprentice in both Death and Love. He is also as close to us as Scott, Jean and Emma. Considering it may be some time before we have another soul mate, I thought Clark deserved to witness this event. But he did turn away as soon Miya's clothes started to fail." She added.

"Please put some clothes on Miya. I'm actually curious about your wings. Musubi's faded immediately, as did the others."

"She's dressed now." Lorna spoke up as she repaired Miya's formerly tattered clothes.

Clark turned back and he saw the amazing wings of light. They were a pale purple that glowed.

"They are very beautiful." Clark said softly.

"Thank you Clark. I do not know how to make them disappear though." She frowned.

"Yeah…" Harry said slowly with a wince. "They may not actually vanish." Harry discovered himself the recipient of glares from everything with at least two x-chromosomes. "The wings appear when an Ashikabi kisses the Sekirei. This opens a conduit for the Sekirei to draw power from the bond. But you are being constantly fed power by not only the multiple bonds of all of us but by the fact that those three are a Phoenix and I'm… Death and the Master of Magic. You have an unlimited potential." Harry shrugged.

"Can we at least put a glamour on them?" Amara asked on Miya's behalf.

"We'll do what we do for superheroes. We'll give her a code name so they can only see the wings in costume." Lorna decided.

Everyone seemed to agree with that.

"Why not make Miya Asama, Sekirei Number 1 the code name." Clark suggested. "Then legally register her as Miya Potter, or something along those lines."

"Miya Howlett." Harry nodded. "It's Logan's real surname and he's always looked to Miya as a little sister. Brunhilde is currently listed as Potter."

"Before you send me back, can someone get my parents? I need them to deal with Tsukiumi, she's now claiming to be my wife." Clark pleaded.

"Oh! Oh! I'll come!" Dani said as she skipped up to him and teleported him away. The last thing they saw was the look of horror on Clark's face as he vanished.

* * *

Heimdall was standing at the entrance to the castle. Looking down the road. There was nothing for the mortal eye to see except Earl running his usual checks. But Heimdall did not have mortal eyes.

"Earl Jenkins. Would you be so good as to summon my father quickly? He is about to have an important visitor."

Earl looked up at the man who actually had a deeper voice than him. That had been pretty shocking.

"He's on his- never mind." He finished as Harry appeared next to his son.

"Visitor?"

"I believe he might need… cushioning for when he arrives." Heimdall said as a small smile flitted across his lips.

Harry looked up at the sky but couldn't see anything.

"No, the castle walls could use the cushioning." Heimdall corrected his father's assumption. "Quickly too, we have only seconds."

Harry quickly cast the strongest cushioning charms he knew. Then altered them to something else as a thought crossed his mind.

"Much better." Heimdall nodded. Not once had he turned his head from where he gazed down the road. "He is here."

There was a sudden dust storm kicked up and Harry and Earl had to shield their eyes. Heimdall had already bowed his head and closed his.

"Harry! You still there?" Earl called out through coughs.

"Yeah, still here. Anybody see what that was?" Harry called back.

"Your visitor, father."

"Definitely your son." Earl said as he managed to make his way through the cloud of dust to Harry and Heimdall.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked curiously.

"He has your knack for understatement." Earl retorted mildly.

Harry couldn't argue with that.

The dust cloud slowly dissipated and Harry and Earl saw Heimdall staring at the castle doors. Embedded there was a man in red with gold accents.

"Is he alive?" Earl asked as he rushed forward with Harry to peel the man off the doors.

"Yes, but his vitals are through the roof." Harry reported as they lowered him to the ground.

"Did anyone get the number of that bus?" The man groaned.

"You were the bus." Earl sighed as he tried to ease the man's mask up so he could clear his face.

"Hey hey! No touchy my mask…y." The man said as he jumped up.

Now that they got a good look at him they could see he had a lightning bolt theme going on. His costume appeared to some type of thin armour that moulded to his body.

"Is he one of yours?" Earl asked as he indicated the ever-present scar on Harry's forehead.

"No, but he does have a feel of familiarity to him."

"There will be _no_ feeling!" The man objected.

The other two men ignored him.

"Heimdall, do you know anything?" Harry asked the enormous Asgardian who was behind the man.

"He is-"

"HOLY HANNAH!" The man exclaimed as he backed away from the giant behind him that he had just noticed.

"As I was saying, he is an Avatar. Specifically an Avatar of Time. He goes by the name Flash."

"Hey! If I'm the Avatar of anything it is speed. I tap into this thing called the Speed Force."

"Yes, but the 'Speed Force', as you call it, is actually an element of Time that Time itself has allowed you access to. Speed is an element of time." Heimdall explained.

"What makes you an expert?" The Flash challenged.

"Because I can see what others cannot. And just as Time is an Aspect of Existence, Death is also. And Death stands behind you."

Flash spun around and began backing away. "Look man, I'm young, I have a girlfriend, a dog… well, no dog yet… but I can get one!"

"Why is he talking to me?" Earl asked.

"Wait, you're not Death?" Flash stopped suddenly. "You are?" He asked Harry incredulously.

"Hi, Harry Potter. Death, The Master of Magic and… lots of other things too." Harry shrugged.

"Then who are you? His grim reaper?" Flash asked Earl.

"I'm just the groundskeeper for the castle and surrounding farms." Earl smiled as he offered his hand. "Earl Jenkins."

Flash hesitantly shook the larger man's hand. "Flash. Hope you don't mind but I prefer to keep my true identity a secret."

"No, no. I understand. But we all know how to keep secrets around here. I personally know the identities of Batman, the Green Lantern _and _Superman."

"You know Superman?" Flash asked in awe. "I bet that guy gets all the chicks. He can fly! How cool is that?"

"Very… once he got over his fear of heights." Harry laughed. "Would you like to meet him?"

"Are you sure you should be throwing around invites like that for the Man of Steel?" He asked warily.

"Man of Steel? That's a new one."

"The Daily Planet coined it last week."

"He's got more titles than me by now. Clark won't mind. He could use a few more friends in the hero business."

"Wait… Superman… possibly the most powerful being on Earth, is called _Clark_?" Flash asked incredulously.

"Yes, but he's not the most powerful person on the planet." Harry smirked. "That would be me."

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to stay on as my Lord Regent?"

"Your Amazons are great people, but my place is back on the farm. Any of them will be welcome if they want to visit though and I would appreciate being able visit them as well."

"Hestia, prepare a declaration for the island. Jonathan Kent shall retain his title and position of Lord Regent. In the event that both myself and Princess Diana are incapacitated he shall stand in our stead."

The raven-haired woman beamed as she jotted down the words of her Queen.

"No arguing Jonathan. Unless you wish to take it up with the hundreds of very disappointed ladies on the island?" Amara threatened teasingly.

"I'm honoured, Your Majesty." Jonathan said with a deep bow and smile.

"Your Majesty, perhaps we could have a feast to celebrate the return of yourself, the Princess and Lord Death but also to honour the Lord Regent?" Anna suggested.

"Excellent idea." Amara beamed. "We will postpone it for a few days, possibly a week so that we can wrap up lose ends."

"Artemis, Athena and myself will also be in attendance."

Amara and her court immediately stood and bowed to Aphrodite who had appeared next to Jonathan, who was now also bowing.

"Rise, Amara, you should not bow to me like that." Aphrodite warned not caring that others were there. "You are practically an equal. We should respect each other as such." She said as she gave Amara a respectful small incline of her head and shoulders.

Amara smiled and returned the gesture.

"Before the Lord Regent returns to the side of his beloved wife, there is one last thing I would have him witness." Aphrodite said seriously. "Diana, Princess of Themiscyra, you were moulded from clay by your mother and the gods and goddesses of Olympus bestowed you with life and many gifts. This was done to fulfil your mother's wish to have a daughter of her own. But you are no mere Amazon. You have been gifted with strength greater than Hercules, the speed and flight of Hermes, each of the gods has given you gifts that make you capable of facing foes as great as Lord Kal-El himself.

"But until now they have lain dormant. You had no need for them, but the world is changing. Heroes like the Batman, Green Lantern and Superman himself are becoming more necessary as the evils of the world emerge to become far more dangerous than men and women can handle. You were destined to be the emissary of the Amazons to Man's World, our champion against the evils that threaten this planet. It is time for you to leave Themiscyra and seek out that destiny."

Diana knelt before her goddess. "I will do whatever you command." She said loyally.

"My command, Diana, is for you to spread the message of the Amazons and in doing so aid the people of the world in defending the innocent. You are our ambassador.

"Rise."

Diana quickly stood but kept her eyes down.

Next to Aphrodite, Athena appeared. She held two wide bracelets in her hands that she began to place on Diana's wrists. "These are made from the remains of my shield, Aegis. They are capable of deflecting anything that may cause you harm, even the bolts of my father Zeus."

A golden rope appeared in Aphrodite's hands and she handed it to Diana. "This is the Lariat of Hestia, or the Lasso of Truth. It was forged by Hephaestus from the Golden Girdle of Gaia. Any bound by it will be compelled to speak the truth and bend to your command. Use it wisely in this manner." She said warningly. "It is also indestructible, and will serve you well in other ways you see fit."

Diana bowed low to her goddesses.

"These are the tools and gifts from the gods, but do not forget to call upon your most useful assets: Your friends and family, both here and with Lord Death."

* * *

Clark watched nervously as he and the others currently working on Izumo Inn stood by and observed the current staring contest.

Dani was by his side grinning maniacally.

Unfortunately so was Xander.

Logan wasn't interested and was just busy cutting and measuring.

Uzume wasn't there as she was at the other house with Jean and Chiho as Jean tried to heal Chiho.

The question was: Who would win, Tsukiumi or Kyla?

Tsukiumi had marched in with Uzume, Clark and an unconscious Higa and introduced herself as Clark's True Wife.

There had been a brief discussion between Tsukiumi, Xander and Matsu about what made her Clark's wife.

Apparently the fact that he had claimed her as his Sekirei was enough.

This led to a brief celebration by Musubi and Kusano who had determined that they were his wives as well.

Clark had managed to escape for a few minutes when Laura took him to witness Miya's bonding with Harry. But then Dani had brought them back and found the aforementioned staring contest in progress.

"How long have they been like this?" Clark asked Neville.

"About a minute. Kyla came in and heard Tsukiumi saying she was your True Wife and that the rest were just mistresses. Kyla laid straight into her saying she was the Alpha as she was your first soul mate." Neville chuckled.

"Alpha?" Clark immediately turned to Logan and Xander. "Which of you two started this?" He demanded. He was looking at Xander more than Logan.

"Sorry kid, Tsukiumi was being her bratty self." Logan winced as he put his tools down.

Clark was pretty surprised; he thought Logan would be more sensible than Xander.

"Well fix this!"

"This is a family matter, Clark. You have to fix this." Xander pointed out.

"I'm only sixteen… legally speaking. I have never been married."

"Kid, let me put it to you this way: Only one person in your weird little harem has balls. That person should use them." Logan said dismissively.

Clark sagged in defeat. But then straightened himself up. "This is not a harem." He pointed accusingly at Logan.

He then turned and marched over to Kyla and Tsukiumi.

"One day he's gonna realise that with the likes of Tsukiumi and Matsu as his Sekirei, either he needs to treat them like a harem or they will treat him like a play thing." Logan sighed.

"There's no balance?" Xander asked.

"Spend some time with the brat. Matsu is just… Matsu, a very curious pervert, but Tsukiumi… there's a reason Harry wasn't her Adjuster. She needed a much firmer hand, she was the only single number who Harry didn't deal with because of her attitude."

Clark grabbed Tsukiumi who was on his left and Kyla on the right by the shoulder and forced them to face him. "Here are the rules, no one is above anyone else. Everyone works to help each other and make sure they are happy. There will be _no_ calling each other husband and wife until both parties are over eighteen… minimum! Anything else that comes up and cannot be resolved peacefully will be discussed as a family.

"Is this clear?" He asked sternly.

"God I love it when he gets all commanding like that."

Clark tried very hard not to react to Dani's comment from behind him. It didn't help that Kyla was trying not to laugh.

"That's fine by me. I can do equals." Kyla shrugged.

"She is but a child!" Tsukiumi protested.

"Fine, then Matsu outranks you. As will Homura if he joins us."

Homura raised an eyebrow at that but didn't say anything.

Tsukiumi stood there, her mouth opening and closing uselessly as she tried to come up with a solution.

"Your choice Tsukiumi. Equals or I put Matsu in charge." Clark challenged.

"Fine! Equals it is. But I will not be denied my rights as an equal wife." She warned.

"And I won't be denied _my_ rights as the only husband!" Clark snapped as he turned and walked off.

Kyla saw the horrified and pale look on Tsukiumi's face. "He's not talking about sex. He's talking about things like privacy and being able to make his own decisions." She said with a roll of her eyes as she walked off.


	36. Chapter 36

In the southern part of Tokyo, in the penthouse suite of an expensive apartment building an unusual assortment of people were relaxing, waiting, and generally whiling the time away. At the centre of the room seated on a plush armchair was a boy of fifteen. He was dressed in a white suit of a very fancy design. He had a deep brooding look on his face as he argued with what was arguably the only man in the room who wore a black jacket over a vest with a yellow scarf around his neck. At his side he wore a Japanese sword.

"I warned you things would change Mikogami. I made it clear why I would help you find these Sekirei and wing them." The man told the boy, Mikogami.

"But their _mine_." The boy whined petulantly. Any second he could burst into tears and throw a real tantrum.

"Nobody owns a person." The man said sternly. "You do not own me and I do not own you. We have a partnership and we can both prosper in that partnership. You have treated these Sekirei well and when Takehito arrives he will be grateful for that, but he will not think highly of you if you act like a child. He may take action against you if you continue to think of these people as your toys."

"He won't take you away from me, will he Mutsu?" Mikogami asked with true fear.

The man, Mutsu, smiled kindly. "Takehito would never do that. Ours is a true bond. Not like the ones I asked you to make with the others. He would fight to defend our bond."

"You promise you'll be back soon though."

"You have my word."

Mikogami nodded sullenly. He stood and walked over to a beautiful young woman with light brown hair. She wore a white dress that was fastened across her very ample chest by a set of chains.

"I will miss you Akitsu. I'm sorry I wasn't able to wing you." He told her sadly.

Akitsu had tear streaks down her cheeks as she had spent the past few days in emotional turmoil that she just couldn't explain. Until Mutsu investigated.

"Thank you for caring for me Master." She said with a deep bow.

"You are going to your real master now. Call me Mikogami." He said with a sad smile.

Akitsu looked at the young boy who was clearly very upset over losing her. She reached forward and pulled him into a hug that had his face squished in her breasts.

After a few seconds Mutsu coughed. "He's turning blue."

Akitsu quickly released Mikogami with a blush. "I hope I will see you again… Mikogami."

* * *

Clark was busily at work helping erect the walls of Izumo Inn with the others when Matsu, Uzume and Homura instantly went on alert and took up defensive positions on the path from the gates.

Clark gently lowered the wall he was holding and approached them leaving the others to continue. If the Sekirei were on alert then it was likely a Sekirei issue, Clark would be able to deal with anything the three powerful Sekirei couldn't.

Clark reached them as he saw a man and a woman turn into the property. They both stopped when they saw the defensive line.

"We come in peace." The man said calmly. The woman was looking very distraught.

"What do you want Mutsu?" Homura demanded with a dark look. "There aren't any un-winged Sekirei for your master to try and steal."

Clark raised an eyebrow at that as Homura was still un-winged.

"I've come to see father. I know he has finally returned, Homura. I have brought his daughter home."

"How did you know this?" Matsu asked.

"I didn't, but Akitsu is his Sekirei as well. She knew and I was able to confirm it." Mutsu smiled softly.

"Hello daughter."

The defensive three spun quickly as Harry suddenly appeared with a smile on his face.

Akitsu was almost in two places at once as she moved so quickly to Harry, there was no hesitation as she immediately pressed her lips to his and her wings exploded from her back.

"I thought she couldn't be winged." Homura said quietly.

"No, she was an experiment." Matsu said in disgust. "Minaka tricked her into thinking she needed to kiss her Daddy. She was always drawn to Takehito but never acted on it. Takehito promised her it would happen at the right time. He was furious with Minaka when he found out he was behind it. He beat Minaka severely."

The wings faded and Akitsu broke the kiss and rested her head on Harry's chest. After days of emotional turmoil, she was finally calm.

Harry gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms as she fell asleep. An armchair appeared behind him and he sat in it.

"Why doesn't that surprise you?" Clark asked Mutsu curiously.

"The magic?" He asked with a small smile. "I have known about magic since I was a small boy. I stumbled across Father and Uncle Seo using it one day. They told me it was a secret so I never spoke of it again."

"Why wasn't she in a coma like the others?" Clark asked Harry.

"Because I forcibly severed the bond from my end." Harry explained. "When one half of a soul bound couple dies, they tear a chunk of the surviving member's soul away. This is what causes madness and death. I knew what was happening and severed the bond giving them a piece of my soul, well, Akitsu and Logan at least."

"Logan? He's your soul mate?" Clark asked in surprise.

Harry smiled broadly. "He's older than all the girls except Brunhilde. When we met we became good friends, we were like brothers. Scott was already safe thanks to his bond with Jean. But the girls saw that I was going to be hurt by losing him to the madness and death. They insisted that I offer him a bond."

"That actually explains a lot." Clark nodded.

"So, Mutsu, what have you been up to?" Harry asked with a smile.

"That bastard has been helping his Ashikabi capture un-winged Sekirei." Homura spat angrily.

"How many did you get?" Harry asked excitedly, which really caught them by surprise, except Mutsu who just smiled.

"We had ten, including myself and Akitsu. Unfortunately we lost Yomi trying to capture 108 and Mitsuha was murdered by Karasuba for sport." He spat angrily.

Harry nodded sadly.

"I… I didn't kill her." Clark spoke up hesitantly. "I broke her back and Lo- Seo said he healed her. She was taken by MBI. She's at the Kamikura Island on the ship according to the records Matsu found." Matsu nodded.

"It was an honourable challenge." Mutsu gave Clark a low bow. "We do not hold ill will against you, we merely miss her."

"Why are you so ok with him capturing Sekirei?!" Homura demanded of Harry angrily.

"Because I asked him to. Just like I asked you to be the guardian. I originally requested him to act as a guardian like you."

"When I was called by my Ashikabi, my circumstance changed." Mutsu explained. "He was a lonely and bullied young boy who came from a rich family who ignored him. I rescued him from the bullies and accepted him as my Ashikabi… I still regret the fact that I didn't find a pretty woman… but I have faith Mikogami will be a good man.

"I explained what I was and what I had to do. He suggested we capture them, he provided for them, he treats them well, only some of them help me capturing the others and that is only because they know why and that Mikogami treats them well… but he is a little greedy and possessive… still fairly immature unfortunately." He admitted with a wry smile.

"It's similar to what Seo had Hikari and Hibiki doing." Harry explained. "They would disable the un-winged Sekirei before they could be caught by someone like Higa. I can revive them later."

"Higa, now there is a monster." Mutsu spat.

"We dealt with him." Clark shrugged.

"You didn't kill him?" He asked worriedly.

"No, why?"

"Killing an Ashikabi can kill all their Sekirei. That was part of what Minaka discovered when he tried to kill you, Father."

Harry just shook his head. "You Sekirei are essentially immortal, like a Phoenix. Once your Ashikabi dies your soul waits for your goddess to rebirth you. The difference between yourselves and a Phoenix is that you don't retain the memories naturally. Your ship has all the memories, they were stored in the Jinki crystals."

"Oh god!" Clark paled. "I destroyed them."

"Clark, I can make new ones, plus I now have all the stored memories of the Jinki up here." He tapped his head. "I'll need the Cuckoo's help but we can easily extract them."

"There is another Ashikabi of some power, Father." Mutsu said. "Sanada Nishi… of the west."

Everyone processed that for a moment as the man's name was actually Sanada West in Japanese.

"Is that his real name?" Clark asked. "Or a title because he's-"

"It's his real name." Matsu offered. "But he only has three Sekirei."

"Yes, but he defends his territory. It would be good if someone where to approach him, he cares for his Sekirei and even fights along side them."

"Why didn't your Ashikabi do it?" Homura asked.

"Mikogami suffers with the age old problem of power corrupting. I have been attempting to rectify that, but it is not easy." He admitted.

"Return to your Ashikabi. Give him my personal thanks for all the work he has done and especially for taking care of Akitsu. He is welcome here anytime." Harry smiled.

"Yes Father. It is good to have you back." Mutsu smiled as he turned and left.

* * *

The following morning Clark woke up feeling trapped.

This probably had a lot to do with the various girls sleeping on top of him.

Musubi was curled into his right side. Tsukiumi was on his left. Kusano was hugging his right leg and Matsu was hugging his left.

He wasn't sure how this had happened as he was sure he had gone to bed alone last night.

"You should have told me you were ready to move our relationship forward Clark." Clark looked up to see Kyla floating above him, lying in the air in her sleepwear that consisted of sweats and a tank top.

"I went to bed _alone_!" He hissed, not wanting to wake up the others.

"Oh Clark, where's the fun in that?" Clark's head snapped to the right as a hand began caressing his chest. Spooned up behind Musubi was Lana Lang, reaching over her to fondle his bare chest.

"You should at least be glad you don't sleep completely naked."

There, behind Tsukiumi was Chloe Sullivan.

"Oh god… I'm dreaming… I'll wake up any second now alone." Clark said hopefully.

"Room for us, sweetie?"

Standing at the door to his room were Tess Mercer and Helen Bryce, both dressed in sleep wear like Kyla.

"Ok, Lex is going to kill me. Maybe I can sign up with the Green Lanterns."

Tess and Helen scowled at that.

"Don't talk to us about that bastard." Tess said fiercely. "Not after what he did yesterday."

Clark looked at her carefully. "This isn't a dream?"

The currently awake girls just laughed. "We're just messing with you Clark." Chloe assured him as she eased herself up without disturbing Tsukiumi.

Lana tried to do the same only for Musubi to grab her hand and moan in discontent in her sleep.

"She's very strong." Lana whispered to the others.

"She's a fist type." Clark muttered.

"And I'm an Amazon."

"You are? Already?"

"We've been gone at least a year. We returned the day before yesterday." Chloe explained.

"Yep, passed our trials and we are now true Amazons." Lana said clearly happy about it.

"Which really came in useful yesterday." Helen said sadly.

"Lex? What happened? I heard something briefly from one of the others but I don't know the details."

Kyla floated up and back to the door to stand with Helen and Tess so Clark could see them better.

"We arrived back at the house to find Lex sitting in the living room as all these men were tearing through the house, they were breaking everything." Tess said angrily. "He then had two of them grab us and demanded I sign some papers saying I didn't want anything from Lionel."

"The bastard said he's calling off the wedding and suing me." Helen said tearfully. Kyla pulled her into a hug.

"WHAT!"

"SHHH!" Chloe hissed as she pointed at Kusano who snuffled in her sleep but ultimately just hugged his leg tighter.

Clark glared at Chloe when she smirked at him. He turned back to Helen and Tess. "Has he been checked for mind control and other stuff? It happened before."

"Harry is going to see him today." Chloe nodded.

"Good. I'll see if I can go with him. Just need a lift back to Smallville."

"I'll take you. I'm spending the day with my dad. It's been a year for me but still a week or so for him." Chloe offered. "I'll definitely be back later though for the full story on your new harem though." She grinned evilly.

"It is _not_ a harem!" Clark objected. "Now can someone help me get them up?"

"Of course not! You just wait there whilst I get a camera." Kyla said as she teleported away.

"Chloe, help me up." Lana called over.

"Nope, you got yourself into that position and you can stay there." Tess smirked.

"But-"

"Welcome to the club." Clark told her dryly.

* * *

Harry strode into the Luthor Mansion ignoring the various guards as they stood there, not seeing him. He made himself visible and threw open the doors to the study to find Lex sitting at his desk reading some papers.

"Mr. Potter, it seems I will need to find some new security if you managed to make it this far." Lex said dryly.

Harry just glared at Lex. He knew Lex Matheson; he was a good man and like a brother to Clark.

The man sitting behind the desk was nothing but a monster. It had a soul but it was badly formed.

"Did you kill him yourself?" Harry asked quietly.

"I beg your pardon?" Lex asked mildly.

"Lex. The real Lex. Did you kill him yourself? I'm assuming you've killed him to take his place, one of Lionel Luthors schemes no doubt."

"I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about." Lex said dismissively.

"You never will." Harry said as he threw an obliviate at Lex before he vanished.

* * *

Everyone was assembled in the castle's great hall. Everyone from Harry to Kusano. Everyone had a translation charm on them as they needed to be able to talk to each other.

Harry was sitting at the head of the table, although the table was round, he had his eyes closed as he concentrated. Then an ethereal form appeared in the seat next to him.

"NO!"

Martha immediately wrapped the distraught Helen in a hug as Lex Matheson appeared proving beyond a doubt he was dead.

"Oh god! Lex!" Tess whispered.

"I'm sorry Helen, I made a foolish mistake and Lionel, Lucas and the clone got the drop on me."

"It was at the meeting we went to, wasn't it?" Loki asked sadly.

Lex nodded. "I should have listened to you. I'm sorry."

"Helen, Tess, I love you both and miss you. Everything I had will be split between the two of you. It's all currently in Clark's name to protect it from Luthor's legal actions. Clark, I'm leaving the company to you.

"You do realise he just took over several companies in Japan?" Harry asked Lex.

Lex just grinned.

"Bastard." Clark muttered.

"Clark!" Jonathan admonished.

Lex and the girls just laughed.

"I'm sorry I failed to keep you alive." Clark said sadly.

"It's not your fault Clark, you had to besides Harry is the one who wasn't around to save me." Lex smirked at Death.

"It was not my fault I got trapped in those crystals."

Lex stood up and walked over to Helen and Tess, he indicated for them to follow him; he led them away to the side where he spoke some short sentences to them.

Lex looked to Harry and gave a short resigned nod and Harry released his hold on Lex's soul and let him return to the afterlife.

"If Lex is dead… does that mean he was cloned?" Chloe asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Yes, it has a badly formed soul though. We need to see if we can force him out of LexCorp."

"Can we rename it? Something like 'Matheson Inc.'?" Tess asked.

"We can look into it." Amara assured her.

"I will make it happen!" Loki said adamantly. "Lex died under _my_ care." She said as tears were trailing down her cheeks.

"Easy sister, remember, place the blame where it belongs." Thor said as he rubbed Loki's back.

"We've still got some time left of the summer. Emma, Jean and Scott are heading back to Thor's world to take a vacation." Harry stated. "The rest of us will work on cutting Lex Luthor out of our affairs and helping Clark with MBI and the Sekirei.

"Dad, when do you need to head back to the afterlife?" He asked Xander.

"Whenever you've had enough of me." He smiled. "I'm alive, with all that it entails. My death can be natural, accidental, intentional… you have full authority over my soul now that I am officially here. If you want I can take up my old role."

"Death's Hand." Logan muttered. He remembered long ago when Harry had said he would make a good choice for that role. His experience as one of Apocalypses Four Horseman really put him off.

"Yeah… gotta love putting the terror in the bad guys." He grinned.

"Ok, what do you want to do? I'm sure Nym and Fleur will miss you." Harry pointed out.

"The After Life doesn't work like Harry. They will be fine. They have each other and all your previous wives and children. If you want me here I'll stay. I wouldn't mind spending more time with you."

"You should stay." Clark said suddenly, causing the attention to turn to him. "Like you said, you can return to the after life at any time. But you can't come here at anytime. So you might as well stay here for as long as you can."

"He has a point." Jonathan agreed.

"So you'll stay?" Harry asked with a hint of hope.

"I'll stay." Xander said firmly. "How about you Nev?"

"I'm staying. I could use a break from the Phoenix Council. I'll help out as a Professor here. Besides, Ku and I will have lots of fun with plants. Right Ku?"

"Right!" She nodded emphatically from his lap.

* * *

Xander, Harry, Neville and Logan easily fell into the swing of rebuilding Izumo Inn. The foundations were set and the ground floor was in. The walls and roof were also in place. Now they were working on the second floor and rooms.

Amara had arrived in Japan with Martha, Harry, Miya and the other Sekirei, kissed Harry on the cheek and told him to enjoy his work. She wanted to get full control of the company in hand before Takehito truly rose from the grave.

The names Takehito Asama and Seo Kaoru were retired now that they no longer had to worry about time travel duplicates. There were a few slip-ups but nothing that wouldn't eventually be phased out.

Uzume and Chiho took responsibility for Kusano whilst the others were busy. Uzume was skilled at creating cos-play costumes and had the three of them dressed up whenever they served lunch and other refreshments. Kusano was often seen waddling around in various animal costumes that the two girls loved to dress her up in. Fortunately Kusano seemed to enjoy pretending to be the animals as well.

Matsu was working with Martha and Amara to get a handle on MBI and the pharmaceutical company he took from Higa. Higa's Sekirei where being dealt with by Miya, Homura and Laura. They discovered that Higa had blackmailed, bribed and held hostage various Ashikabis in order to control their Sekirei. These people were also being dealt with.

The MBI building soon reopened, it was a novelty building that caught the attention of the world with its infrastructure now made of plants. Some of the employees were a little nervous as they entered the building, fearing it would fall down around them. An orientation was held for all employees their first day back where they were assured of the buildings safety. They were also briefly introduced to Clark as the owner even though Martha would handle things for the next few years.

A meeting was held with Clark, Martha and one Takami Sahashi.

At the meeting were Yukari Sahashi and the formerly dead Takehito Asama.

"You're dead."

"You're alive."

"Minaka said you died."

"He tried."

"Wait… he really _was_ responsible?"

"Yeah, he's the reason I've been gone all these years. He was messing around with the alien technology in an attempt to kill me and leave no trace." Harry shrugged. "Apparently he had tried several times to assassinate me. But you can't kill Death." He grinned.

"What?" Takami asked in annoyance.

"Long story, ends with me being the embodiment of Death, the Master of Magic and a few other things." Harry smiled. "You do remember how you and Minaka found me on the ship before you even arrived?"

"A seemingly human, western male who spoke fluent Japanese on an alien spaceship? I think I might remember something about that." She said sarcastically. "How does that make you the embodiment of Death? And magic? I thought you were a man of science Takehito." She said with a slight sneer.

"I can be both. I'm over twenty million years old. I wasn't born in this universe. I can do many amazing things though." He said as he turned the desk into tiny kitten.

Takami could only sit there and gawp at the sight.

"Mum?" Yukari called gently.

"What? Yukari… how did you get caught up in this?" Takami asked as Harry reversed the transfiguration on the kitten and making it a desk again.

"I met Clark and Musubi and we were attacked by Hikari and Hibiki. That was my introduction. Then I met Sheena and discovered I was his Ashikabi. Of course Clark then found out that Minaka was behind Harry's disappearance. When I heard my father was responsible for murder… how could I not get involved?" She shrugged.

Takami was shocked… again. "How did you know he was you father?"

"I overheard you talking once when I was young. I never knew you actually worked with him though until recently. You never wanted him near us so I thought he was a bad man. Turns out you were right." She smirked.

"I don't know what I ever saw in him." Takami sighed as she sat in the chair opposite the desk. "I'm just glad he spurned Kazehana's advances."

"Where is my little girl? I haven't had a chance to go to her." Harry asked.

"Drinking." Takami said sadly. "She's been drowning her sorrows. It would probably be better if she found an Ashikabi."

"I'll see if I can help with that." Harry assured her.

He knew that Takami never wanted Kazehana hurt over Minaka, but the bastard was always infatuated with Takami and saw the Sekirei as little more than tools. He never would have given Kazehana the time of day. It hurt Takami that Kazehana blamed her for Minaka's rejection as she had raised the rest of the single numbers with Miya and Harry. Takami was one of the witnesses for Harry and Miya's wedding, but that all changed when Takami refused to leave MBI after Harry vanished. She didn't want to abandon the Sekirei even if it meant working with Minaka.

Miya just assumed she had chosen Minaka over Harry.

Takami cleared her throat. "So I assume you work for Mr. Kent now?" She asked Harry. "You seem very young to have orchestrated a corporate takeover." She said to Clark.

"I had a lot of help." Clark said with a small smile. They had decided to bring Takami into the loop fully. "Where as Harry is Death, I am his apprentice. I am also the Norse God of Thunder." He said as he pulled out his hammer and let the lightning play across its planes.

"Gods and Death… this is a lot to take in." Takami sighed.

"More so than aliens?" Yukari smirked.

"Aliens can be quantified scientifically, but gods are mythical and spiritual." Takami lectured her daughter.

"Actually, they can be scientifically quantified, but humans just don't have the scientific capabilities yet." Harry corrected. "Clark, the rest of your secret?"

Clark nodded and pushed down on the face of his watch breaking the glass. His clothes quickly morphed into his Superman costume. "I am Clark Kent, also known as Superman."

"My god!" She exclaimed as she unconsciously stood up. "Do you know how many companies and agencies are trying to get a hold of you?"

Clark looked at Harry curiously.

"The usual range, governments either fear you or want to use you, companies want to study you and try and profit off of you." He shrugged. "Until we conquer the world and take control it will always be like this."

"Conquer the world?" Takami laughed. She gulped when she saw the serious look on Harry's face. "Why am I here then? You know I won't agree to world domination and I doubt Miya would approve."

"To run my company." Clark said. "Harry's plans for taking control of the world are not what they sound like. He has the ability to eradicate disease and hunger but he can only really do that if he controls the governments. It won't happen for years yet, in the meantime, I am in school and my parents have a farm to run. My understanding from Homura is that you have been handling the day-to-day running of the company and I would like you to continue."

"What about The Game, the Sekirei Plan?" Takami asked.

"Ended. Effectively immediately." Harry said firmly. "The S-Plan is to be re-instated. Get in contact with the original Discipline Squad and have them reform and do what they were designed to do. Miya is expecting your call."

"Do you know about the three major Ashikabis? Higa, Mikogami and Sanada?"

"Higa has been dealt with. His businesses are now owned by Clark and will be merged into MBI. Mikogami is to be treated with the utmost respect. Mutsu was working for me in my absence and Mikogami was cooperating, although take great care with his bonds as although he winged them forcefully, he did it for Mutsu and… well, he has a few issues, but he is trying to do the right thing."

"I can work with that." Takami nodded. "I still want a more detailed explanation of where you have been all these years."

"You'll get it. We just need to deal with this stuff first and make sure things are running smoothly." Harry assured her.

* * *

**A/N: ANOTHER LEX SPOILER FOR THE WORRIED**

I thought I would add a bit more explanation about Lex as, lets face it, you've been reading for 36 chapters and I spent ages making Lex a good guy and I am NOT Joss Whedon.

I have this... thing where I watch or reader a character in canon and I think they are acting far too out of character or I wonder what would happen if another character was used instead. Like Barty Crouch Jr. cutting off Harry's hand at the end of the tournament back in Potter's Protector. How about something simpler... a good guy in any film or show is trying to break out of a bad guy hideout and he has no weapons, he kills a guard... and doesn't bother picking up their weapons. Its even worse when the good guy is a cop/soldier/agent.

So... I thought that if Lionel had the chance he would replace Lex with his 'perfect' son. One that shared his goals. I don't believe he really loves Lex, he just sees him as a legacy.

We already had viable clones with Dinsmore so making a clone was not a stretch.

**1.** Why not just kill 'evil' Lex.

Because then we have a power vacuum and Lionel probably has back up clones like the Dinsmore did. Although it would have been fun to have Harry keep killing the clones and forcing Lionel to break in a new one... but I didn't think of that at the time.

**2.** Why not just stuff Lex' soul into the body bringing him back?

Lex has crossed over. Harry does not play fast and loose with the rules he has envisioned. He could ask for Lex back from the other side but at this point it would seem frivolous.

**3.** So this is the end of 'good' Lex?

NO!

That's right!

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!

I liked my Lex and wanted him back. I eventually wrote him back in. You will have to wait till season four but the bald headed billionaire will be back.

**4.** WHY IS LEX STILL BALD?!

I have no idea... laziness on my part. Plus I am trying to figure out how to do it.

* * *

Finally... if you don't like my story, don't bother telling me. Just leave. Go and write your own better story or find a different one to read.

You don't walk up to people on the street and tell them you think they are ugly or that they are dressed badly... so don't come and tell me you don't like it.

It's one thing to tell me I called Kyla Dani twice in a chapter... because that's my bad.

You can also tell me your ideas and thoughts on where you think this is going.

But it is another thing to tell me I screwed up with gods and Sekirei and the lot.

This is FANFICTION! Canon and believability went out the window when man first decided to find out what would happen when he rubbed two sticks together... or what a round rock would be like.

Also, don't tell me what I NEED to do. Suggest, request or even beg if you like. But this is my story, my mistake to make. Go and make your own mistakes elsewhere, this spot is taken.

Don't like it... go elsewhere and please do so quietly.

Have some respect and humanity.

Otherwise you're just a bully.


	37. Chapter 37

Akitsu was being handled with kid gloves. She currently had the mentality of a teenager due to the fact that her emotions were essentially sealed during Harry's absence. She wasn't unruly or a problem, but she refused to leave Harry's side unless they were sleeping or had to attend to business.

Kyla, Lana and Chloe were attempting to help her. Yukari aided them as a tour guide when she could but she was supposed to be visiting universities that had accepted her.

"Have you thought of applying to places like Oxford or Harvard?" Chloe asked Yukari as they walked down the street having done some shopping for the finished inn.

"Aside from being expensive, I don't speak English." Yukari pointed out.

"First of all, your mother pretty much runs MBI now. I'm fairly certain Clark pays more than enough to send you to any college in the world." Chloe laughed. "Secondly… we don't speak Japanese. We are using translation spells."

"For which you should be grateful." Lana said with slight embarrassment.

"But Clark doesn't use one does he?" She asked as she recalled the new owner of MBI telling her something about gods.

"No, he actually speaks Japanese. The knowledge was given to him by Omoikane, a Japanese god." Lana confirmed.

"He got more than just the language." Yukari told them with a slightly awed voice. "He knows everything about Japanese culture and history. He also knows every dialect; do you know how annoying Tsukiumi is? She is speaking a very old form of Japanese, we can understand it but… she sounds like an old play or film."

"I want to try and learn Japanese properly." Chloe said resolutely. "It feels like cheating using the charm and it seems only fair now that we will be spending more time around Japanese speaking people."

"Do you think all Clark's Sekirei will go back to America with him?" Yukari asked, there was a hint of worry.

"I think they might have to. Most will definitely want to though." Kyla answered. "I've been reading up on the Sekirei bonds and they will feel compelled to stay with him… which is why Tsukiumi sought him out."

"I wonder what will happen with Homura." Yukari mused.

* * *

Homura was currently in a meeting with Harry, Takami, Clark and Musubi. Only Harry knew why Musubi was there, but she sat there silently, just an inch or two further back than Clark.

They were currently in the MBI Sekirei treatment ward. It was a standard sterile hospital room with beds and monitoring equipment. On two beds down the end were the unconscious and bound forms of Benitsubasa and Karasuba. They were ignored as Homura stood by a bed impatiently and the others sat on chairs in a circle of sorts.

"If you want the pain to end and your gender determined properly then you have several options." Harry began. "First, you can have Clark wing you and then let the change happen. You will be a woman, can't change that." He said apologetically.

"You can't force it with magic?" Clark asked.

Harry shook his head. "On a human, yes. But Homura's body will consistently attempt to change to what it is meant to be."

"There goes my job at the Host Club." Homura muttered unhappily. "What about the fact that I prefer women?"

"Your pool of girlfriend candidates gets reduced a bit, but it won't make a difference." Harry shrugged. "Second option is what I recommend, you let me give you your memories from the ship. You will remember who you have been all those previous times and you will have more experience to draw on and help you cope."

"But I'll still have to kiss a guy, no offence."

"None taken. I'm not too thrilled about it. The only time I've kissed a guy was to save their life… this is the same thing to me."

"You're kiss can save lives?" Takami asked slightly awed.

Clark blushed as Harry laughed. "He's referring to when he performed CPR."

"Oh." Takami seemed disappointed.

"Why is Musubi here?" Clark asked quickly changing the subject.

"I thought Homura might like to see what he will get when he changes and I thought Musubi might be willing to help with a demonstration." Harry explained. "Plus I need to deal with something else regarding her specifically."

"I've had liaisons with many women, I know what the female form looks like." Homura objected.

"You have? Ho- Sorry, not my business." Clark apologised as he went completely red.

Homura just smirked. "Some women like the androgynous look. Especially those who actually prefer women but can't be seen in lesbian situations."

Clark nodded quickly, still performing his audition for a stoplight.

"Homura, let Clark kiss you. That is inevitable." Harry said kindly. "At least you won't be in pain anymore."

"Can you give me the memories over time? In bits and pieces so I don't get overwhelmed?" Homura asked nervously.

"I should be able to. It will require the aid of the Cuckoos but we can do it." Harry nodded.

"Alright… let's get this over with." Homura said firmly as he stood up and straightened his black dress coat.

"Now?" Clark squeaked.

"Yes now." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Is kissing me really such a problem?" Homura smirked.

Clark just sighed and stood up, he leaned in and pressed his lips to Homura's. He knew he would have trouble kissing him even if he was a woman. He would be a lesbian after all.

Wings of fire exploded from Homura's back causing Takami to back away quickly as Harry conjured a shield to protect her. The heat was intense. Homura could give Amara and the Phoenixes a run for their money.

The wings eventually dissipated and Homura was left standing there with no back to his jacket. Harry fixed that for him quickly.

Homura really couldn't help himself when he subconsciously put a hand between his legs.

"Give it a few days, Homura." Harry patted the future woman on the back.

Homura's shoulders sagged. "I really am a woman?"

"You were definitely not a man. But none of that matters as to what gender you are attracted to." Harry assured him.

"And you're ok with this?" Homura asked Clark.

"I'm an alien god from another planet… I don't think I'm in a position to judge." Clark offered.

"You are my Ashikabi. We Sekirei were raised to respect that relationship. It's one of the reasons Tsukiumi came to be with you, not just the bond pulling her. Otherwise she would treat you like dirt. Your opinion means a lot to us." Homura explained.

"You are my Sekirei. Everything I have read and learnt about Ashikabis and Sekirei suggests that I am responsible for you. I will do what ever I can within the bounds of the law to keep you safe and happy." Clark said seriously.

"Within the bounds of what is accepted as right by the leaders of the good." Harry corrected. "You are a god, humans on this planet have no idea of the dangers they are in. You may not have a choice in breaking some of the laws of Earth if you are to protect them."

"Is there anything else you need with me?" Homura asked Harry.

"No, I just need to talk to Yume." He said.

"Yume? Number 8?" Takami asked. "She died Harry. She died rescuing Musubi."

"No, according to the reports I read she gave her Tama or soul to Musubi."

"She bound herself to Musubi?" Clark asked with wide eyes.

"Yep. I've seen this before. One of my friends from Logan's world, he spent years walking around with the soul of a little girl in him. The soul had been placed there so he would guard it… of course he never actually knew this until I arrived and we removed the soul and rebuilt the body."

"I have two souls?" Musubi asked in confusion.

"Well, you have your own soul, but Yume gave you her soul to help protect you. I just need to pull her out and put her back in her body." Harry explained.

"We have her body back at the ship in a stasis pod." Takami informed him.

"Excellent, let's relocate."

There was a brief moment of confusion before Takami, Musubi and Homura realised that they had seamlessly arrived in a very futuristic room.

"Been some years since I was back here." Harry said wistfully.

There were over a hundred of empty glass capsules that looked like eggs arranged all over the room with cables and pipes attached to them. In the centre of the room was a much larger version.

"This is where we came from." Homura said in awe.

"Well, to be accurate, this is where we found you." Harry smiled. "Miya was a near fully grown adult in the large chamber up there. Matsu, Kazehana, Karasuba and Mutsu were in the small ones; they were nearly fully developed babies ready for birthing. All these other capsules contained you, Musubi and the other Sekirei as fertilised embryos.

"If the ship hadn't crashed and Minaka hadn't discovered us and interfered then Miya would have received her memory download and then woken up and taken care of the rest of you."

"Us?" Clark asked.

"I still haven't told you how I wound up in the past, have I?" Harry smirked. He walked up to a control panel that had eight octahedral slots. "The Jinki where slotted in here. Logan had called me over to Japan because he had tracked down the rumours about the King of Terror and some of the other stuff Bruce gave us when we asked him to keep an ear out for alien activity, it was all connected to MBI.

"We found this place and slipped past the guards easily enough, I was trying to figure the systems out when the crystals started reacting to me. Logan tried to pull me away but we both got sucked away. We found ourselves in the same room but without the guards. Seconds later the door opened and Minaka and Takami walked in. Logan went invisible and as Minaka was clearly much younger I figured this is where I became 'Takehito'.

"I claimed to be the guardian of the Sekirei, that this was my ship. It took a lot of fast talking but I managed to let Minaka think I was part of the ships crew and that only I could control the Sekirei."

"Why didn't you just assume control of the company, stop him from messing with the Sekirei?" Clark asked.

"There is a reason Time likes me. I don't screw around with the timeline. I already knew much of the company's history after Minaka sent his goon squad to Smallville for me. I let things play out until I synced up and could start making waves."

"But Minaka tried to kill you first." Takami frowned.

"Yes. He thought that if he used the Jinki on me they would absorb my abilities to control the Sekirei."

"Did they?" Homura asked.

Harry grinned. "Yes, but really they absorbed _me_. Nobody controls me so I just stopped emitting any power until I felt Clark holding me."

"Including your soul bonds and putting your soul mates in comas." Clark glared at him.

"The Jinki had the potential to control more than Sekirei Clark. I had to do it. It's my duty as a sentient and not just Death." Harry said sadly.

"Just… try not to do it again."

"I can definitely promise to try… I just can't promise to succeed."

There was a moment's uncomfortable silence before Takami broke it. "Yume is over here." She said as she led the to an array of adult sized capsules some of which were filled. "As you can see we have Haihane here already."

"And Yomi too." Clark said with a hint of self-loathing.

"Yes… I heard that you took her out yourself. But there were no marks on the body." Takami frowned.

"I broke her back, but Logan healed her afterwards." Clark explained.

Takami nodded. "Any injury that would incapacitate a Sekirei is what we call 'Termination'. It can also happen by one Sekirei touching the crest of another and reciting their Norito."

"That's like an incantation, right?" Clark asked.

"Right, the incantation allows them to call upon- what? What is so funny?" Takami demanded of Harry.

Harry just chuckled. "I made the Noritos up as a way to limit the amount of power so Minaka couldn't use them to do too much damage."

"You're a bastard." Takami scowled. "All the studies I had to do – arrghh!" She growled inarticulately.

"Yes, I apologise but it was effective in keeping Minaka busy." Harry pointed out.

"I have a question." Clark interrupted before they could continue. "Haihane is number 104, why is there such a big age difference between her and Kusano, or even Sheena and Kusano?"

"_Because_ of the Noritos!" Takami glared at Harry. "He began to find ways to increase their powers. Ku is second in power only to Miya."

"And she still isn't at full power… but then again, neither is Miya." Harry shrugged.

"The woman can slice battleships in half, how much more powerful can she be?!" Takami asked aghast.

"Best guess? She could put a gash in a planet the size of the Grand Canyon or bigger."

Clark let out an impressed whistle.

"You aren't far behind Mister. From what I can tell you should be capable of _moving_ planets. Or at least moons."

Clark looked at him as though he clearly thought he was joking.

"Well, not yet, but you are still growing." Harry admitted. "You will be able to do those things though."

"Please don't practice with Earth or our moon." Homura said teasingly.

"I make no promises." He retorted with a smirk.

"Considering the nightmares you are likely to give me, can we get back to Musubi and Yume?" Takami asked weakly.

"Alright. Now Musubi, just lie down and relax and I will easily remove Yume's soul and you won't feel a thing… well, you'll feel something but nothing too bad." He instructed as he conjured a hospital bed.

Musubi looked to Clark who gave her a nod and a reassuring smile so she obediently hopped onto the bed and lay back.

Clark had seen Harry work with souls a few times now, but each time was just as amazing as the last.

At first he thought Harry had made a mistake as the soul that emerged from Musubi looked nearly exactly like her. The only difference was that her breasts were significantly smaller. Not that she was flat chested, but most women had breasts smaller than Musubi.

"Harry… are you sure that's not Musubi?" Clark had to ask.

"No, I remember Yume, they could easily pass for twin sisters." Homura assured him.

"Go on, get in there Sweetheart." Harry kindly instructed Yume's soul.

Yume smiled warmly at Harry before she floated through the glass cover of the capsule and into her body.

Harry tapped a panel on the side and the glass cover slid upwards to the ceiling. Harry stepped forward and placed a hand on Yume's face and concentrated.

After a few seconds she sucked in a breath of air and her eyes sprang open.

"Welcome back, Yume." Harry smiled.

"Thank you… Father." She said as she wrapped him in a hug.

"I'm very proud of you, Yume. You did well in helping Musubi, unfortunately Karasuba went off the rails when you left." Harry told her as he indicated the capsule nearby with the unconscious Number 4.

"She was never right, Father. Even Miya couldn't reel her in." Yume sighed.

"I know. But at least she had some control with you and Miya around." Harry agreed. He then brightened and turned her to face the others, Musubi was now sitting on the edge of the bed. "I believe it's been a while since you saw Musubi face-to-face."

Yume smiled as she placed her hands on Musubi's shoulders. "You have grown into a beautiful woman little sister. And your breasts are so big!"

Takami, Homura and Harry just groaned as Clark watched in disbelief as Yume proceeded to touch and caress Musubi's chest.

"Harry-?"

"It's a Sekirei thing, Clark."

"A _female_ Sekirei thing." Homura said pointedly.

"They seem to be obsessed with the size of their breasts." Harry sighed. "It's a nightmare trying to get them to display some modesty. They could make Emma blush."

Clark looked thoughtful. "I'd like to see that." All those times she had paraded around in front of him in her skimpy clothing, it would be nice to get some revenge.

"So you are our Ashikabi." Yume said as she broke off from giving Musubi a physical.

"Well, I'm Musubi's." Clark agreed.

"Musubi and I both shared the same soul. We are still connected. Her Ashikabi is my Ashikabi, my Ashikabi is hers."

"Oh… well… welcome to the family I guess. Harry, you can tell my parents about this." He added quickly.

"It'll be a heap of fun." Harry grinned with an evil glint.

Clark was caught off guard as Yume moved up on her toes and kissed him deeply.

When her bright wings receded she settled back onto her feet and sighed contentedly. "I am glad I experienced that."

"I… I thought I was already your Ashikabi?" Clark asked as he tried to clear his head. He wasn't used to all these women kissing him.

"You are. But this body hadn't emerged yet. Now it has."

"Just how many Sekirei do you have now, Clark?" Homura asked with a hint of disbelief at what he was seeing.

"Let's see, there's Matsu, Tsukiumi, Kusano, Musubi, Yume and you. So, six." He finished with a grin as he reminded Homura of what had occurred only minutes earlier between them.

"Plus Kyla is his soul mate." Musubi added helpfully.

"Don't forget that Kyla told you that Lana is his first love." Yume reminded her.

"Oh god." Clark groaned. "Wait… you remember what Musubi remembers?" He asked suddenly.

"Of course, I shared her body as well as her soul."

"Why do I get the feeling you have the same amount of modesty as Musubi?"

"At least you didn't have to deal with a bunch of naked teenagers running around." Harry griped.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if Mutsu wasn't a boy." Takami added. "As it was we had these teenagers who had no idea about modesty, they could barely comprehend the notion."

"Yeah, and then Mutsu realised he liked girls." Harry snickered. "We had to deal with that pretty quick, he was walking around with a stiffy and the girls were curious about it and he liked the attention from the girls… fortunately they didn't see each other that way…" He trailed off sadly.

"Kazehana?" Takami asked knowingly.

"Yeah, poor kid."

"We all tried to warn her." Takami explained to the others. "She was attracted to Minaka, but he only had eyes for me. I tried to explain it to her but she just thought I was jealous and her rival."

"She's a drunk now." Homura said sadly. "She went off searching for all the sake she could find."

"I'll try and find her in the next few days, see if I can't bring her back." Harry said. "Unfortunately it needs to be her choice."

* * *

Scott, Emma and Jean were currently back in their home universe enjoying a relaxing vacation in the Savage Lands. As soon as they got back Jean intended to go through a burning day. She was getting very antsy. Clark would just have to get used to it when she joined them at the high school.

Tess and Helen had returned to Lana's house, she had told them they could stay as long as they wanted, especially as Lex Luthor had now cut all ties with them and abandoned the house Lex Matheson had been building for himself and Helen.

Harry was in Japan with Clark, Kyla, Chloe and Lana. They were focusing on helping Clark with MBI and the Sekirei.

Miya split her time between Japan and Harry and Smallville and her new sister wives. Brunhilde was clearly the Alpha of the group. She didn't command them, but she held herself responsible for the others safety and well being. This was explained as she had been married to Harry the longest, even if she had been bonded for a shorter period of time… only by a few weeks though.

Amara and Lorna took the time to show Miya around, Amara introduced her to Diana, Harry's other natural soul mate who had been bound to him longer than she had but known him for a shorter period of time.

Dani had put a quick stop to those discussions when she saw Miya and Diana getting migraines. Discussing time travel required a lot of alcohol.

Laura and the triplets stayed at the castle for the most part, helping Earl and the Kents on the grounds along with Thor, Sif and Heimdall. Loki was bringing Amara up to speed on legal matters.

Heimdall and Earl got along quite well. They were both quiet individuals but occasionally one would break into a story about events involving Harry, Clark or the others. Their deep booming laughs were often heard all the way to the Kent farm making the group there look up and smile.

The fields lining the driveway to the castle were roaming grounds for the horses. Every morning Dani and Earl would herd them out there and let the roam for the day. Earl always checked the fences at the end of the day.

It was the end of this particular day when they saw an unusual sight. A government car was coming up the driveway with a convoy of army humvees behind it; some of them actually had gun turrets on top.

"This can't be good." Earl muttered.

Heimdall just grunted.

Earl put out a mental call to all the regular castle residents. It was Loki who appeared behind Heimdall using him as a shield to block her entrance from view.

"This can't be good." She scowled.

Heimdall and Earl shared a grin over her head.

"I saw that!" Loki snapped without looking.

Loki started marching forward through the grass in her jeans and blouse. She had been relaxing on Themiscyra as she business things with Amara.

The front passenger door open and a man in uniform jumped out and opened the rear door allowing an Army General to exit.

"Can I help you?" Loki asked tightly.

"We are here for Doctor Harry Potter. We have orders to bring him in for questioning and to search his residence." The man from the front passenger seat informed her as he handed over a document wallet. His insignia and nametag listed him as Major Stanz. The General was a five-star named Banner.

Loki looked over the documents. They were highly redacted. There was very little point in giving them to her. "These tell me nothing and prove even less." She said dismissively as she tossed them back causing the Major to drop them.

"They don't need to tell you anything young lady. If you don't know where Potter is then stand aside and let us do our jobs. If you do know then you are required to tell us." The General ordered harshly.

"Mind your manners General." Loki warned dangerously. "I know exactly where my Uncle is. But all I will tell you is that he isn't here in the United States."

"If you refuse to cooperate then we will take you into custody, I would hate to see what my men would do to a pretty young thing like you." He sneered.

Heimdall began growling and Earl sent out another mental distress call.

"I believe you should leave, expect to be brought up on charges." Loki said evenly.

"Your word against mine. And I hold a lot more power than some girl."

"True, unless you take into account that I have been recording you since you arrived." She said tapping the pen in her blouse pocket.

The General's hand snapped out ripping the pen and her blouse. Heimdall moved forward in the blink of an eye the General went flying over his limousine thanks to the uppercut he'd thrown.

There were instantly a dozen rifles pointed in their direction.

"Whoa! Stand down!" The Major shouted as he held up his hands in a pacifying manner.

Earl had Loki behind him defensively to protect her modesty.

"Take your leader and leave these lands. Be prepared to face my full might if you return with less than honourable intentions." Heimdall warned in his deep booming voice.

"What the Sam Hill is going on here?!"

The Major turned to see several women approaching, including the town sheriff.

"I got a call from Miss Aquilla stating that an armed convoy had arrived on their doorstep. Now I thought she'd been sipping at her gin a little early, but lo and behold, she's right. Now why is Miss Odinson in such a state and why is that man laid out like a sack of bricks?" She demanded with her hand on her holster.

Diana and Dani quickly moved over to Earl and Loki. Earl left them to it and joined Heimdall in glaring at the armed men.

"We came peacefully-"

"A convoy of armed men do not come peacefully." The Sheriff snorted.

"Regardless of our method and style we came _peacefully_." The Major insisted. "We enquired as to the location of Doctor Harry Potter. We presented the lady with the proper documents and she threw them at us. She insulted the General and then the large one struck the General."

He decided he could spin this how he wanted given they now had the recording device.

"What about the part where your _General_ threatened to _give_ Miss Odinson to his men? Or where he viciously groped her breast and tore her blouse?" Earl demanded.

"The United States Army does not do such things and we consider that slander."

"Not when it's the truth." Loki spoke up. She was now wearing Dani's jacket to cover her modesty. Amara was placing the ripped blouse into a plastic bag.

"You have no proof and therefore no recourse with which to claim it is the truth." The Major said dismissively.

"You are of course assuming that the pen the General stole was the recording device I mentioned." Loki smirked.

"These are classified actions and any and all surveillance will need to be handed over." The Major frowned.

"You have the appropriate orders in writing I assume?" Amara asked calmly.

The Major handed over the wallet.

Amara glanced at them and snorted before handing them to the Sheriff.

"God almighty, no wonder the lady threw them at you!" The Sheriff exclaimed. "If you came to my office trying to pass this cock and bull story off I'd throw you out or put you in irons."

"As I said, these actions are classified and those are all the details you are entitled to know."

One of the medics attending to the General ran up and whispered in his ear.

When he finished the Major straightened up and smirked. "It seems this man has severely broken the General's jaw. I will have to take him into custody."

"Whoa there son. I think you better remember where you are. This ain't any foreign country. This is Smallville, Kansas. If anyone is doing any arresting it will be me, and I won't be doing anything until I see this so called recording."

She stepped forward into the Major's personal space. "But I'll tell you this, my first inclination is to haul the lot of you off to my cells. First thing I see is a bunch of grunts and a woman in distress like that… You're lucky I didn't decide to shoot you on sight."

She took a step back. "Now, your General there is under suspicion for sexual assault. We don't take kindly to that sort of thing around here. You can take him to the Smallville Medical Centre but he is not to leave town."

"The General is expected back in Washington tomorrow." The Major objected.

"Then someone is gonna be mighty disappointed. He ain't above the law, now get off the Doctor's property and don't come back without a decent lawyer and some readable documents.

"And don't try leaving the State! I'll be alerting the Troopers _and_ calling up your precious Washington!" She called as the Major stomped off.

They stood there and watched as the General was loaded onto a stretcher and then a humvee before the convoy backed away.

"Your accent seems to be quite strong today, Sheriff." Amara commented as they watched the convoy disappear into the distance.

"I can't rightly say I understand where you're coming from Miss Aquilla." She said as she turned and smirked at the blonde legal expert. "It ain't my fault if the high and mighty Washington boys think I'm just some lowly country bumpkin."

"Of course not." Amara returned the smirk.

"Now I will need that recording." Sheriff Allen stated seriously as she let the accent slide away to her regular twang.

"I will deliver it before you leave your office today. We just need to download and copy it."

"See that you come a few hours before I sign off, Miss Aquilla, us country bumpkins aren't too handy with your fancified mechanical toys." She said with a roll of her eyes as she walked off to her car.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief… except Heimdall who was still fairly tense. "If you will excuse me, I must seek out Thor. I feel the need to… hit something." He said as he gave a slight bow and walked off.

"Be prepared to hear thunder tonight." Loki winced.

"Just how many recording devices do you wear Miss Odinson?" Earl asked curiously.

"Far less than the number of times I've told you to call me Loki!" She glared at him. "And I don't wear any. Uncle Harry will extract my memories and then project them, then we will record them from the appropriate angle." She explained.

"All magicals created by Harry can do this." Dani added.

"We can? In that case I have some memories to show Heimdall when he's finished pounding on Thor, that'll cheer him up!" Earl grinned.

* * *

It turned out that Yume was just as affectionate as Musubi. Clark found both girls attached to an arm when they were seated. Tsukiumi glared at them as Matsu giggled away with Kyla about how this was better than a soap opera. Considering Kusano claimed the position on his lap, Clark was pretty well pinned. He was very glad to get to the safety of his room at Izumo Inn and made a mental note to thank Miya for imposing her rules on everyone.

Of course those rules seemed to annoy everyone else including Harry.

Clark had been tuckered out after dealing with MBI. He could work all day on physical labour but put him to work on business matters and he wanted a nap by lunchtime.

As a result he was surprised to wake up and discover he had two companions considering he had gone to sleep alone.

On his left was a stunning Asian woman with incredibly large breasts, quite possibly larger than Musubi's; he knew this because she was only wearing a pair of panties. He had no idea who she was.

On his right was Uzume.

This is was not the first time she had stumbled into the wrong room. Especially not the first time she had done so naked, unlike the woman on his left, Uzume was completely naked.

Clark wanted to cry.

He had no idea how he was going to explain this. Kyla and Matsu would laugh and mock him. Tsukiumi would likely challenge one of them to a duel for encroaching on her Ashikabi and Miya… he didn't want to know what she would do, the ladle was bad enough, especially as it actually hurt him when she hit him with it.

"Uzume!" He hissed. "Uzume, wake up!"

"Go back to sleep." She moaned as she snuggled in closer, his arm nearly disappearing between her breasts.

Clark couldn't understand how he could live every teenage boys dream and not be allowed to actually enjoy it.

"Uzume, you're in the wrong room. So is your friend." He hoped the other woman was her friend and not someone she had dragged home.

"Sort it out later." Uzume growled sleepily.

"Fine, then will you at least let go of my arm?"

"No." She said petulantly without opening her eyes. "Comfy."

It was times like this he wished he could communicate telepathically like the others.

The door to his room slid open suddenly to reveal Miya standing there brandishing a large kitchen knife.

"You know my rules on illicit relations at Izumo Inn." She said calmly.

"Yes Miya, I do. I'm sure Uzume knows it too." Clark tried not to gulp.

"Nothing illicit going on in there." Harry commented as he peered over Miya's shoulder. Her head snapped to the side as she glared at him. "Sorry dear, I'll go start on breakfast."

"Urgh, what's with all the noise?" The woman on Clark's left groaned sleepily as she sat up.

"Did you know you are naked?" Clark asked trying not to blush.

The woman looked down at herself. "No, I'm wearing panties. Now _she's_ naked." She said with a smirk.

"Uzume." Miya said warningly.

"Jeeze Miya, no need to be such a drag." Uzume groused as she too sat up.

"Can I assume you are responsible for bringing Kazehana here?" Miya asked.

Uzume just giggled. "Maybe."

"That's a yes then." She sighed. "Get dressed, we don't need Clark having lustful urges… again."

"Again?" Clark asked incredulously.

"He's a teenaged boy, he's in a perpetual state of lust." Xander grinned as he walked up and poked his head in. Xander was also treated to Miya's glare. He quickly ran off as she came after him with her knife leaving Clark, Kazehana and Uzume alone.

"So you're Kazehana?" Clark said. "We were going to look for you today."

"Well here I am!" She smiled widely as she spread her hands giving him a clear view.

"Clothes? Please? Miya is… vicious." Clark pleaded. "I assume you came here because I'm your Ashikabi?"

"How did you know?" She asked as she and Uzume started getting dressed.

"I've been dreaming about you. I just didn't know your name. I should really research all the Sekirei." Clark sighed.

"Welcome to the mad house, Kazehana." Uzume grinned. "I'm off to wake up Chiho. We really should continue this later Clark." She smiled seductively at him before she sauntered out.

"Just how big _is_ your little harem?" Kazehana asked with a grin as she slipped her very short purple dress over her head.

"It is not a harem… but Tsukiumi will be disappointed as in her eyes she just went down the pecking order." Clark couldn't resist smirking.

"Oh?"

"She's Number 9. Matsu is 2, you are 3 and Kyla was around before any of you." Clark explained. "Oh, and Yume is 8."

"Yume? But she died!"

"No, she just gave soul to Musubi, Number 88. Harry- Takehito put her soul back where it belongs."

"_Takehito_ is- wait… Takehito was just behind Miya!"

"It's a very long and complicated story." Clark assured her. "For the record I know about your feelings for Minaka Hiroto, but you should know he's been put away for… the rest of his life."

Kazehana waved a hand dismissively. "Whilst I had feelings for him, I grew out of them."

"Really? Are you sure you didn't wash them away with all that booze?" Matsu teased from the doorway.

"Matsu, I see you got yourself an Ashikabi. Even whilst you are supposed to be hiding." Kazehana smiled.

"Not any more. Minaka is gone and Clark owns MBI."

"I know I drank a lot but I also know I didn't drink _that_ much!"

"Come on, I'll introduce you to the others." She said as she grabbed Kazehana's hand and dragged her out.

Clark just sighed as he began to put away his bedroll.

* * *

Having found what appeared to be the last of the un-winged Sekirei and therefore, hopefully, the last of Clark's Sekirei, they allowed Takami to take control of the day-to-day operations.

Harry installed a special rune based teleportation system at various locations in Tokyo, like MBI, Izumo in and each of the houses the family maintained in Tokyo. He also placed them in the castle and Smallville. Sekirei, like gods, couldn't hold a magical core so they required a different method of getting around. This was what Harry had developed with Cessily Kinkaid thousands of years ago to allow Thor to travel instantly between Asgard and Midgard without having to find the Bifrost Bridge. It also allowed him and others like the Vision to travel between cities without needing to rely on the Avenger's Jets.

As a result of installing these devices, Clark was able to travel home to meet his parents.

And introduce them to his harem… at least that's what Kyla claimed he was doing.

What Clark found really annoying was that Kyla, Lana, Chloe, Uzume and Chiho had all tagged along to watch.

"So these women just came to you and claimed they were your Sekirei?" Martha asked, trying to understand.

"There was more to it than that." Clark argued. "I dreamt about them before I even saw them. Except Homura and Tsukiumi, who I ran into on my first night of patrol.

"And they are now _all_ your wives?" Jonathan asked dubiously.

"No!"

"Yes."

"Tsukiumi, not helping!"

"Technically they could be classed as your wives."

"Do you want to explain to your Grandfather that you are the Head Wife then?" He challenged Kyla.

"Erm… no they aren't his wives?" Kyla quickly backtracked.

"Which is it?" Martha asked curiously.

Clark thought they were being very calm about this… in is experience that usually meant they were gearing up for a big blow out.

"There was no wedding. Tsukiumi is referring to some ancient Japanese cultures. By modern day standards we are… a family."

"In which you are the husband and they are their wives." Jonathan said pointedly.

"I'm his wife."

Martha couldn't help but beam at little Kusano. She was without a doubt gorgeous and too cute for words.

"No Sweetheart, you will _be_ his wife." Jonathan corrected lightly. "But you have to be a little girl first, then when you are older you can have a beautiful wedding."

"Dad!" Clark could not believe he was hearing this.

"I think Queen Amara and the Lady Aphrodite might be pleased to host the wedding of both the son of the Amazon Lord Regent _and_ the Norse God of Thunder _and_ the Apprentice of Death." Jonathan said with a straight face.

"This is a joke, right?"

"Honestly Clark." Martha sighed with exasperation. "After these past few years we've spent immersed in Harry's lifestyle, don't you think we would be a bit more accepting of a situation like this?"

"Harry and Aphrodite both warned us that you were likely heading this way. We can hardly blame you when you didn't exactly choose it." Jonathan added.

Clark turned to Chloe who was seated on the fence with the others who weren't Sekirei and bound to Clark. "You set this up right? You created an illusion to make it seem like my parents where very accepting people?" He pleaded.

"Hey! Why are you blaming me?" She demanded.

"Actually, I'm fairly surprised too." Lana admittedly quietly.

"Lana, ever since we were told by Aphrodite what would happen and that Kyla was Clark's soul mate, we've simply been waiting for you to decide you are ready to share." Martha told her kindly. "We know you both love each other. Maybe one day, if you get married, you will ask Harry to join your souls."

It was clear Lana was conflicted, but Kyla just put an arm around her. "No pressure though." She grinned.

Lana responded by pushing her backwards off the fence and smirking down at her.

"Come along Kusano, I'll show you the horses." Martha said as she held out a hand to the little girl.

"Oh! I want to see too!" Uzume declared excitedly as she hopped off the fence. Chiho smiled and followed quietly.

"Come on son. Let's see if you still remember how to do your chores." Jonathan smirked as he led a completely bewildered Clark away, leaving the rest of the girls in the capable hands of Lana, Chloe and Kyla.

* * *

**A/N: Future Crossovers.**

A lot of people have asked me if I can include other shows in the story.

Unfortunately I can't for two very simple reasons.

**1. **I already have the entirety of the DC universe involved in this. Plus BtVS, HP, Marvel and now Sekirei. I could add more but I decided that it would be better to use them in a different fanfic.

**2. **Most of the crossovers requested were anime. I have a very limited knowledge of Anime and Manga as I only started reading and watching them last year. I know Sekirei, Ah! My Goddess (And very little of it), Rosario + Vampire and that is it. Everyone talks about Naruto so last week I looked for is and have started watching season one. I have just finished the Land of Waves so I still have a long way to go before I can think of fanfic for it.

For those of you recommending books... I haven't read a real book since HP7. I have never read Tolkein... but I love the films.

I have only been reading comics for about two years. The only reason I knew about Marvel and the X-Men before the movies was because as a kid I would watch the various Marvel cartoons... including the old Spiderman one... yes, I am old enough to remember it... or the reruns at least.

So that is the main reason you won't see any other crossovers.

Some asked me about Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I enjoyed it but in some ways that show deserves its own focused crossover. There was a lot of backstory with the council, the tests, Hilda being Canadian.

* * *

**Season 3 Spoilers!**

I don't tend to do spoilers and I have written directly to you, the readers, more than I ever have in other story. But some of you want to know about Lex and other stuff. Here's a few spoilers:

First, good Lex. Season four and a several chapters in at that before we see him again in a more permanent fashion. (I started posting when I had finished season three, that was chapter 54, so now you have an idea of when Lex will be back... around Chapter 60, I don't have season four divided into Chapters yet so I can't be more specific.)

However, if you hate evil Lex then you should stick around. I never let Lionel walk out of a room with his dignity in tact so why wouldn't I do the same for evil Lex?

One of the main reasons I can't bring in Sabrina is because of a hint I put in the story when we first met Bruce. One word: Zatana.

There will be a whole mess of things going on with that and it is a big thing.

Let's see... Have we had Alicia yet? She will be around.

I have my own take on Lionel's personal downfall and Chloe's investigation. Which will lead to Lois.

The Sekirei will continue to make Clark's life difficult. But at the same time there is plenty for the gang to deal with at school.

But Smallville is a small town and Superman is world wide hero. Superman will be on the international circuit.

Don't forget that Virgil is working on getting to Krypton, there is a lot of setup for big events in season four.

Hmm... that's all I can think of for now... I will tell you more... by posting chapters ;)

* * *

**In the words of Columbo: One last thing...**

My rant isn't to anyone who asked me if it was so far. My rant is actually at people who have left. Like I say, you can posit your theories and the such. You can make suggestions.

Just don't come here and start cursing at me and telling me my story is bad. Don't like it, go elsewhere.

If you spot a plot hole then sure, point it out. Just be aware that a 'plot hole' may actually be a 'plot lead'.

For those of you who want to see other crossovers in this story even though I can't add them, feel free to take the characters I have developed and the ideas I actually created and write your own sequels and versions.

You don't have to credit me, just please don't say you came up with my ideas yourself.

Oh, and drop a link in a review so I can try and enjoy it.

A fan fiction of a fan fiction... inception? (Never seen the movie.)

Till the next chapter!


	38. Chapter 38

Over the weeks remaining of the holiday the Sekirei began to try and learn English. They asked for the translation charms to be dropped. Kusano was very quick at picking up the language thanks to her youth. Matsu's genius put her in second place. Musubi came third, something about her natural naivety allowed her to pick it up. There was still a lot of broken English for her but she persevered. Tsukiumi had it the worst, it didn't help that she spoke an unusual dialect of Japanese in the first place, but she refused to be seen as inferior amongst the group and soldiered on.

Jonathan and Martha were very patient with them all as the girls insisted on working their father-in-law's farm, as it was their duty when the numbers 1,2,3 and 5 weren't in Japan doing their duty as members of the Disciplinary Squad. A second team was being planned with Yume leading, it would consist of Homura, Tsukiumi, Hibiki, Hikari and Uzume. Provided Tsukiumi could learn to be a team player.

Kyla was arranging dates with the girls for Clark, she enlisted Lana and Chloe to help organise it all. In the meantime Clark spent the rest of his holiday learning the ropes for MBI, Martha and Amara were working to try and arrange a complete buyout of LexCorp by MBI.

Lex himself had not been seen in Smallville for the past few weeks and both Helen and Tess were happy with that, their Lex was dead.

Clark approached Tess with the idea of her running LexCorp for him in memory of their Lex. She was touched by the idea and promised to give serious thought to it after she discussed it with Helen. Their time training as Amazons had solidified their relationship as sisters.

Heimdall, Sif and Thor made their way back home after paying a visit of respect to Odin where they witnessed Harry presenting Odin with his new baby daughter, Thor. The three Asgardians had spent a lot of time in this world and they had duties to attend to back home.

Loki was staying to assist Amara and the family and also because she was now involved in whatever the Army was up to since they attacked her.

Eventually school started up. It seemed more like years had passed for the teenagers, which for Kyla, Lana and Chloe it had been.

"High school just doesn't seem… exciting, anymore." Chloe sighed as she booted up her computer in the Torch.

"It will be if you have to do it again." Phoebe assured her.

"Especially when you have such specimens like Clark to keep you company." Mindee grinned as she perched herself on a resigned Clark's lap.

"Yeah Clark, how are you going to survive with only five hot chicks to keep you company during the day?" Chloe teased.

"Six."

They turned to the door to see Kyla standing there.

"Aren't you supposed to be starting school today as well?" Lana asked.

"That's why I'm here. Just came from Em- Principal Frost's office to finalise my transfer." She smirked as she sat down next to Clark. "I figured there was no reason for me to be separated from all the action and adventures you guys have, this way I get to spend more time with my soul mate and sisters." She grinned at Clark, Lana and Chloe. "Plus, you know, I heard you guys needed a new ethnic minority character in your cast."

"Don't they usually get killed off quickly?" Chloe challenged.

"In their first episode." Phoebe agreed.

"The females at least get a tragic exit. Usually after the hero of the story realises he loves her." Lana rolled her eyes. Then she noticed everyone staring at her. "That's what I heard at least." She tried to cover weakly.

"Did any of you guys catch some of those Japanese shows?" Kyla asked, Lana was thankful for the subject change.

"I tried, I understood the language but not what was happening." Chloe admitted.

"Same here." Lana rubbed her temple. "It was more confusing than listening to Tsukiumi."

They all turned to Clark expectantly. "What? You really think I had time for TV between dealing with Sekirei, MBI and Harry?"

"Aw, is poor Clarkie feeling over worked?" Mindee teased.

"Yes. This was supposed to be a vacation remember?" Clark said seriously.

"What the hell?" Chloe frowned as she peered over Clark's shoulder.

Mindee slid off Clark's lap as they all turned to see a group of men in Army uniforms walk by the office.

"Come on, Harry might need some witnesses." Clark said.

"I've informed Emma and Scott." Phoebe said as they walked out.

They reached the door and opened it to reveal Harry sitting calmly at his desk with Dani standing behind him.

"This is a private meeting. Please wait outside." One of the soldiers ordered.

"The last time the army came near our friends and family they assaulted one of us. You'll just have to put up with having witnesses." Clark said firmly.

"This is United States Army business, this is not a place for children."

"This is the United States of America. We are American Citizens, you work for us." Chloe countered.

"Captain, escort them out." The seated General ordered.

"What is going on here?" Emma demanded as she stormed in with Scott. "Gentlemen, you are trespassing. The Sheriff is en route, I suggest you calmly exit the building before she gets here."

"We have orders from Washington-"

"So do I, and as far as I am concerned my orders supersede yours."

"What orders?" The General demanded.

"The ones that compel me to ensure the safety and security of this school and its students… which you are violating." She snapped.

"Madam, this is not the time for semantics."

"And this isn't the place for your meeting, but we all have our flaws. Now leave."

"Either Doctor Potter comes with us of his own will or we will take him forcibly. There are no other options."

"Alright, I'll go with you. Helen is on call-"

"You can't seriously be agreeing to this Harry." Emma demanded.

"I'll be back by dinner."

"If you're going then I have to go too." Clark said quietly.

"Clark-"

"Harry, after the last few months, bad things will happen if I let you do something like this alone. You don't need someone of _my_ limited experience to tell you _that_."

"Gentlemen, would you be willing to meet me at the castle either this weekend or tonight?"

"Doctor, this is not a negotiation." The General scowled.

"I suggest you make it one. There are some very influential and powerful people who will not take kindly to my being pushed around. Mr. Kent is quite right that I will require someone to accompany me. I trust Mr. Longbottom will suffice?" He turned to Clark.

Clark frowned. "At a bare minimum. But try and remember that this will reflect on me as well."

"I promise to behave." Harry smiled.

"You seem to believe that the United States Army is open to negotiation! We are not!" The General said angrily.

"General, either you make an appointment and some concessions or you will be tossed out of the building." Clark warned.

"We are highly trained soldiers son, you couldn't take all of us."

"I wouldn't have to. They would." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the scowling students, several members of the wrestling team and football team where cracking their knuckles menacingly.

"Lord Almighty! Another one of you sailor boys come to cause more trouble in my town?" Came the overly heavy accent of the Sheriff.

"We are _Army_." The General seethed. "We are here on official business."

"Last sailor that came through here assaulted a young woman and landed himself at the local medical centre before I charged him with sexual assault. He claimed he had orders too. All he really had was a bunch of papers with thick black lines on it. You gonna do any better?" She challenged.

The General nodded to the nearby Lieutenant who handed over a wad of documents.

Sheriff Adams perused them with a frown on her face. She eventually stopped and handed them to Emma. "At least there was readable text on that one." Emma snarked. "The only problem is that those papers are a summons to a congressional hearing. They don't say anything about you taking the good Doctor away for a private interrogation."

"We are to escort Doctor Potter and question him before hand." The General countered.

"Not according to these documents." Clark said, Emma had handed them over to him and he had sped through them as fast as he could without raising alarms. "These documents simply require Doctor Potter to present himself before Congress to answer questions on the so-called 'Superhero Situation' Tomorrow at 10am. There is nothing in here about you escorting him or questioning him yourself."

"Unless you have a legal degree then I don't think you can truly understand-"

"I can read. Even the fine print." Clark interrupted him. "So unless you can point out the section in these documents that specifically states that you are to take Doctor Potter into custody then I suggest you leave." He said as he handed the documents back to the Lieutenant.

"Sheriff Adams, I am pressing charges against these men for trespassing, endangering minors and disturbing the peace." Emma informed the Sheriff.

"Well ain't this just a peach. Looks like I got me some more eye-candy for my cells. Always did like a man in uniform, why I became a Sheriff." She grinned.

The students tried not to giggle.

"Boys, break out your cuffs." She called over her shoulder as two deputies pushed through the crowd of students.

"We are Officers in the United States Army! You don't have the right to arrest us!"

"You're fancy title doesn't count for squat around here, pretty boy." Adams said as she spun the General around herself and began cuffing him. "You want to pull that stuff, take it up with your lawyer."

"Students, return to your classes. The excitement is done for the day and you can discuss and generate rumours to your heart's content at lunch." Emma ordered with a roll of her eyes as the four Army men were marched out.

The students laughed as they headed off. Despite her aloof and cold manner, Principal Frost was actually pretty cool.

"Principal, I'm going to require a pass for the day." Clark requested formally.

Emma raised an eyebrow. Normally she would ask Clark why he needed this. She still would for any other student. But it had been agreed that Clark was no longer just an Apprentice to Harry. He was an adult in their eyes and a respected team member. She couldn't insult him by treating him like a child.

"Very well, Mr. Kent. Remember your training." She advised.

"I will, and thank you."

"Do you need any of us?" Kyla asked with a hint of hope.

"Not for this. I need to keep this fairly low profile for now." He said with a smile.

"Try not to get into trouble Clark." Harry teased.

"I'm not the one who nearly caused all of humanity to be wiped out!" Clark countered.

* * *

It was barely ten in the morning and Martha, Jonathan and the girls had been hard at work. All of them, including Tsukiumi had taken to farm work quite well. There had been a little bit of tension when Musubi and Kusano had tried to get her to help with watering the herds, but Yume had dealt with easily enough by explaining they just wanted to include her. It was a new experience for Tsukiumi who always looked at the world as though it was about to attack her or make demands of her. She never had people who just wanted to be with her or even help her.

Kazehana was quite strong and once she was convinced to wear something a little more appropriate than her short purple dress she was happy to work hard along side the others.

Martha was currently preparing drinks for the hardworking bunch when the kitchen door opened and Homura walked in nervously.

"Is everything alright, Homura?" She asked. In an attempt help their English; Martha and Jonathan tried to speak perfect English, without contractions or slang.

"I am having… trouble, Oka- Martha San." Homura said with a bow as she corrected her natural instinct to call Martha 'mother' in Japanese.

"Its just Martha, Homura." Martha smiled kindly. "Tell me what the trouble is?"

Homura blushed and straightened. "I am… in pain?" She embarrassedly indicated her chest, which was developing quite well. She was quickly approaching Martha's own size.

"You don't have a bra?" Martha asked.

Homura shook her head.

"Come up stairs, I'll-" She was interrupted by the customary rush of wind that signified Clark's super-speed arrival.

"Mom, have you seen Diana or Amara?"

"Diana is on Themiscyra and Amara is in Metropolis with Loki. Why aren't you in school?" She asked.

"More army problems. It's sorted for now but the others can fill you in tonight, I will be busy all day."

Martha nodded slowly; it was hard to watch her son grow up. "Let me call Diana, she can ferry you around a bit more inconspicuously and you can ask her what you need to."

"Thanks Mom." Clark said. "How are things going?" He asked Homura as Martha stepped out.

Homura blushed.

"Are you ok?"

"I am having… female issues." She said hesitantly.

"Oh, I apologise." Clark said with a bow. "I should not have pried."

"No… you are husband." Homura insisted clearly uncomfortable.

"I told you that you don't need to worry about that. You-"

"Take- Harry, gave me memories from ship. I remember being woman, it is easier now."

Clark nodded in understanding. "Ok, my advice is to speak to Laura. She is clearly a woman but she dresses in a way you might prefer."

"Thank you Clark." Homura said sincerely.

"Diana will be here in a few minutes, Clark." Martha announced as she came back in. "Go harass the others, Homura and I are busy." She shooed him off.

As Clark closed the door behind him Martha turned to Homura. "Clark's a good boy, but you don't need to worry about telling him everything. All women are entitled to their secrets." She said with a wink.

Homura smiled in appreciation. She didn't necessarily understand what was being said, but she knew Martha was trying to help her.

* * *

Clark knew that he had to keep Harry out of the clutches of the US government. If Harry was imprisoned so soon after what Minaka Hiroto had done then the gods would go on a rampage, no matter how pathetic the attempt at incarceration was.

Fortunately Clark had some pull with the Japanese government; owning most of Tokyo tended to do that. He had Takami pull in as many favours as she needed to get a meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan and the Emperor.

Takami had screamed down the phone at him for five minutes before she let him explain the dire need. Her response of 'why didn't you say so' caused him to hang up.

There were to be three other people at the meeting other than him. Amara as Queen of the Amazons, Diana as Princess of the Amazons and Amaterasu, one of the chief deities of the Japanese Pantheon. Of course Amaterasu wouldn't be sitting in the waiting room with them.

It wasn't long before they were at the Tokyo Imperial Palace waiting patiently for their meeting with the Emperor and the Prime Minister. Despite meeting various gods and dealing with several women who claimed he was theirs, Clark was still very nervous.

Amara was cool as a cucumber but Diana was just as bad as he was. This would be her first time meeting a leader of man's world. The last few attempts had her laughed her out of embassy offices as she tried to convince them she was the Princess of a hidden island of Amazons and that they wished to open an embassy in America. She then tried Britain and finally France. No one was interested.

"His Majesty the Heavenly Sovereign will see you now." An aide said as he opened the large doors, everything was fairly simple, no overly ornate finishing's, but it held a natural beauty.

The three walked in and bowed low before the Emperor who was seated on the only ornate thing in the room, a throne. Standing to his side was the Prime Minister; to his other side was an empty chair for his wife. The room was very large and there were armed guards at the edges of the room.

"So you are the one who has been buying up my city." The Emperor stated with narrowed eyes. He was an older gentleman in a suit with greying hair.

"No your Majesty, I merely acquired the company belonging to the man who was doing so." Clark said respectfully.

"But you still feel you own them, you haven't returned what was taken." He challenged.

"Good money was paid and an honourable transaction took place." Clark answered. "Minaka Hiroto was an evil man but he had honourable business practices."

"And where is this man now?"

"He committed crimes against powerful individuals. His fate has been determined. It is not my place to speak on it."

"You have taken a citizen of Japan, you _will_ speak on it." The Emperor ordered heatedly. Minaka Hiroto was wanted by the government for the mess he had made and the disrespect he had for the Emperor. The Emperor might have limited powers but he was considered the spiritual leader of Japan.

"I cannot speak on it myself, but I can put you in touch with someone who can." Clark offered.

"And just how many days must we wait? How much red tape must we wade through?" The Emperor sneered.

"Before the end of this meeting she will be standing with us. But I must warn you, many will be displeased if you disrespect her."

"Are you threatening the Emperor?" The Prime Minister spoke up incredulously.

"No sir, but the person coming outranks us all. And you specifically will be very embarrassed when you realise… or accept who she is."

"Speak plainly, Mr. Kent." The Emperor scowled.

Clark sighed and hoped and literally prayed that the goddess would turn up. He went down on one knee and bowed his head. "Great August goddess who shines in heaven, I beg you grant us an audience."

The Emperor rose from his throne in a rage. "You dar-"

He was blinded by a great light that filled the room but quickly faded to reveal a Japanese woman wearing an elaborate kimono, part of her hair was done in a bun whilst the rest flowed down her back.

"You should feel very honoured, child." The woman chided the Emperor softly. "Not only has the god Kal-El seen fit to show you great respect and bow before you, but I have not struck you down as you stand there gawking at me."

The Emperor's eyes widened and he paled before he fell to his knees and buried his face in the ground, the Prime Minister and guards quickly followed suit.

"Better." She said mildly as she literally floated over the prone form of the Emperor and seated herself on the throne. "Kal-El, come sit with me." She indicated the seat reserved for the empress or consort.

Clark bowed but accepted the invite nervously.

"Remember my young godling, there is a time and a place for airs and graces. This would be one of them. You can be their friend later." She told him quietly so the others couldn't here.

Clark nodded. "I understand."

"You learn very quickly, even for a god. It will serve you well." She smiled with a hint of pride. "Rise my son. All of you." She addressed the Emperor. "Bring chairs for Queen Amara and Princess Diana. For yourselves as well. We must hold counsel."

Two guards left and returned with chairs for the four dignitaries in the room. They were all seated quickly.

"Now, to start, let me assure you that although the monster, Minaka Hiroto, is guilty of many crimes against my beloved people, they pale in comparison to what he did to the gods and those above us. He is serving a sentence that will end with him being erased from existence."

"August One, may I enquire, with respect, as to the nature of the god Kal-El? I beg forgiveness for my ignorance." The Emperor pleaded.

Amaterasu smiled. "Your ignorance is forgiven and your desire to correct it is praised. There are many pantheons of gods aside from the Kami of Japan. There are the Greeks, the Norse, Native Americans and many more. There are even pantheons of other planets.

"Kal-El is the Norse God of Thunder. Recent events involving Minaka Hiroto saw him aid _all_ pantheons. All pantheons and gods view him with respect."

"I understand much, and will meditate on what I fail to." The Emperor said with a seated bow.

"A wise action.

"Now, Lord Kal-El has called for a meeting for two reasons. First, there is a man known as Harry Potter. He is beyond the gods; he is Death in every way. He is a good man and Lord Kal-El is his former Apprentice having recently surpassed his training."

"Congratulations Lord Kal-El." The Emperor said respectfully… he was trying not to pass out about the fact that Death's former apprentice was sitting less than ten feet from him.

Clark just nodded in acknowledgement.

"Death lives in Smallville, Kansas in the Americas. There he works as a doctor healing the sick and spreading the gift of magic. To explain this next part, I must request that both Kal-El and Diana reveal their other identities to you both."

Clark touched his watch and his costume replaced his suit. "I, Clark Kent, am Kal-El, also known as Superman."

Diana looked to Amara who nodded and she touched her own watch and her costume replaced her conservative skirt suit with the shorts, bustier and golden girdle that the goddesses had given her. "I am Princess Diana of Themiscyra, also known as Wonder Woman."

The Emperor and Prime Minister gasped in awe.

The guards began to pale as they realised they were useless against two powerhouses like Superman and Wonder Woman.

"Harry Potter currently controls North Korea." Amaterasu continued causing the eyebrows of the two Japanese leaders nearly vanish into their receding hairlines. "He recently acquired it and has begun spreading his gift of magic and eradicating the hardships.

"The American government has taken an interest in Superman and other heroes, Harry Potter has been seen conversing with them all and the Americans are attempting to take him in and question him. The rest of the world is not ready to know of Death living amongst them, nor of we gods who truly take an interest in our people. So he must work and act as a mere mortal human.

"Kal-El has suggested that Japan offers Harry Potter diplomatic credentials and the backing of their government. Meanwhile, you would be welcome to open relations with the people of North Korea who serve him."

"Of course August One. We will see to it immediately."

"Time is short, tomorrow Harry Potter must appear before the American Congress." Clark warned.

"It will not be an issue. Our own Ambassador to America shall accompany him." The Prime Minister assured him.

"August One, Lord Kal-El, again, I beg your patience, but I am unfamiliar with Queen Amara and the her lands." He said with an apologetic look.

"Queen Amara is the wife of Death. She was requested by Aphrodite of the Greek Pantheon to take the throne of her Amazon nation after the previous Queen was found lacking." Amaterasu explained. "Kal-El suggested this meeting between the two of you so that you could be the first to open diplomatic relations, especially as the West have spurned them and laughed them away." She said in disgust.

"We would be honoured." The Emperor gave a bow to Amara who returned it. There was no way they would say boo to anything the goddess ordered, especially if it involved keeping Death happy.

"Excellent. You have served your goddess and my people well this day my son. I will look favourably upon you." She smiled as she stood.

Everyone else stood as the goddess disappeared in another blinding flash of light.

* * *

Everyone was fairly impressed with the way Clark came up with a viable solution to the American government's hard-handed tactics. An envoy from the Japanese Embassy in New York was flown down and had a whole bunch of documents for the entire family to sign. Apparently the Japanese Emperor didn't trust the Americans not to go after Harry's friends and family and were not about to disappoint Amatesaru.

Despite agreeing to Neville accompanying Harry, Clark still insisted on attending himself. Loki had added an extra layer of protection by having the Daily Planet print headline stories about the Congressional Hearing.

Clark, Neville and Harry flew through the night on a luxury leer jet owned by the Japanese embassy; they were put up in the embassy itself so they could be assured privacy. Everything was done openly which meant the various reporters and paparazzi staked outside waiting for any story suddenly got very busy.

The hearing hadn't been designated as closed it just hadn't been announced in order to keep it as quiet as possible. This meant that when Harry turned up with the Ambassador from Japan that morning the camera flashes where at epileptic levels.

Harry was quickly sworn in and the questions began.

"Doctor Potter, can you confirm that you are an American citizen, currently living in Smallville, Kansas?" The chair for the hearing asked, his name was Hoover. No relation.

"I can."

"Can you explain why it is you have brought the Ambassador for Japan to these hearings then?"

"I didn't." Harry answered with his standard cheeky smile.

"That is the Ambassador from Japan, yes? Then please explain his presence." Hoover said in annoyance.

"I accompanied him at the request of my government." Ambassador Sato spoke up. "Doctor Potter holds not only Japanese citizenship but is also a member of my Diplomatic staff."

The panel began furiously conferring and checking their papers.

"How long has this been the case, Ambassador?" Another member asked.

"Since last night." Sato stated calmly.

This caused the gallery to break out into murmurs along with the panel.

"Silence! You will maintain yourselves or you will be thrown out." Hoover said warningly. "Ambassador, could you explain why Doctor Potter was given diplomatic status?"

"Because the Emperor and Prime Minister insisted. I'm afraid I do not have more details myself."

"Doctor Potter, could you explain why you have suddenly become the sudden favoured child of Japan?" Hoover asked a little snidely.

"I could. But perhaps a little bit more respect is needed." Harry stated calmly. "I have come here of my own free will when I could just have easily disregarded you."

There was another gentle rumble through the gallery.

"This is the United States, Doctor, we are not easily ignored." Hoover scowled.

"I know. You're so loud and obnoxious." Harry said blithely.

Sato had to cough into his hand to cover his laugh along with the rest of the gallery.

"Doctor Potter!"

"Yes?"

"You will answer our questions or I will hold you in contempt!"

"Careful Senator, as you are now well aware, Doctor Potter has diplomatic immunity." Sato warned.

Hoover was about to go off on a rant again when the man to his left placed a hand on his forearm and whispered in his ear.

Hoover just nodded sullenly and sat back to let the other man take the lead.

"Doctor Potter, we would like to know the identity of the beings known as Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and Batman."

"That's nice to know." Harry nodded politely.

The Senator looked at him expectantly.

Harry just sat there calmly staring back.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Can you tell us the identities of these individuals?"

"I can."

Again with the pausing… then the Senator realised his mistake.

"Doctor, please tell us the identities of these people."

"No."

"I'm sorry?"

"I said 'no'."

"You are refusing to answer the questions we are asking?"

"I am refusing to give you information that is not mine to give and that you don't need."

"Doctor Potter, you are aware that we can hold you-"

"Diplomatic immunity." Harry interrupted him.

"We can have you deported."

"I suppose you could. Probably wouldn't please those heroes you were talking about. Or Japan, North Korea or Themiscyra."

"What would North Korea have to do with this? Are they behind these people?" Hoover interrupted.

"No, but they do owe me and the heroes a fair amount. They are no longer under an oppressive dictatorship and I hear that this weekend Superman is going to be helping them get rid of all the nuclear weapons that are a nuisance."

"You are claiming that not only has the current dictator been deposed but that North Korea is voluntarily decommissioning its nuclear arsenal?" The other Senator queried.

"Sure, it's not like they need them, Superman and the Green Lantern can easily handle any attacks on the innocent. And they can do it without causing a nuclear war or the fallout." Harry shrugged.

"Superman and the Green Lantern have allied themselves with North Korea?" Hoover gasped.

"Well, not exactly, it's more that they have decided to protect the innocent. They would do the same for any country really, regardless of the idiots in power." He smiled insincerely at the panel. "Now, why don't you ask me some sensible questions?"

"Very well, where did these people come from?" Hoover asked as he decided they weren't going to get anything else from Potter.

"They were always around. They were just never needed. Ordinary citizens going about their lives when all of a sudden a criminal like the Joker appears and someone like Batman is needed to deal with him. They feel they can't stand by and watch others suffer so they step up and deal with it when the authorities can't."

"Are you saying the United States police force is incapable of handling criminals like this Joker?" Another Senator demanded indignantly.

"That depends, are you saying that your police officers sat around idly whilst the Joker killed hundreds until Batman showed up?" Harry challenged.

"We would have handled it!"

"Perhaps you should tell that to the hundreds of people who lost loved ones then. Perhaps another question? This one doesn't seem to hold the answers you can stomach."

"Can you tell us how these people became so powerful? What caused them to gain these abilities?" The man to the side of Hoover asked.

This had everyone leaning forward.

"Some of them were born with their powers. Others were gifted them by others. A select few earned their abilities through training and perseverance."

"What do you mean 'gifted by others'?"

"Well, I suppose 'gifted' is not quite the right term. The individuals were found to possess attributes desired and they were entrusted with the powers and abilities and the responsibilities that accompany them."

"And who is it who determines that these individuals are 'worthy'? Why aren't we consulted?" Hoover demanded.

"Because you aren't worthy. The very fact that you believe you are entitled to have your opinion heard is enough for you to be considered not worth their time. You're lucky _I'm_ sitting here pandering to your egos." Harry snorted. "Did you know that the Green Lantern is an Intergalactic Peace Keeper and part of what is known as the Green Lantern Corps?

"They've been around for millions of years. Humanity has barely hit puberty by comparison.

"Wonder Woman's appointment came about after consultation with her Queen. She was then appointed as the Ambassador to what they call 'Man's World'."

"Are you saying we are… 'immature'?" The man to Hoover's left asked.

Harry grinned cheekily. "Weeelll…. If you _have_ to ask the question…"

"I'm curious, how do _you_ know all these details?" The man on Hoover asked.

"Now _that_ is a good question." Harry nodded approvingly. "Short answer is: they told me."

"And a longer answer?"

"You won't get for several years at least."

"You realise you are not giving us much reason to trust you, Doctor Potter?"

"That's fine. Considering you sent armed men from the army to my home and assaulted my goddaughter sexually, I don't trust you. Only seems fair we feel the same way about each other." Harry shrugged nonchalantly as the gallery gasped and more texts and emails were sent.

"How dare you make such outrageous claims!?" Hoover shouted.

"I have a copy of the Sheriff's report and the lab results that show the General who assaulted my goddaughter had his DNA all over her torn blouse." Harry said his calm manner was steadily slipping away. "He is also currently sitting in the county lock-up waiting for his trial as I was able to have him denied bail."

"It should be noted by the American government that _all_ of Doctor Potter's family are covered by diplomatic protection now." Sato said warningly. "I believe Doctor Potter has answered all the questions he is going to. If you have nothing else we will be leaving."

"This session is not over." Hoover warned.

"It is for myself and my ambassadorial staff. If you have any further inquiries please raise them with my government." Sato said as he rose with Harry.

Neither man bowed to any degree. They left with their heads high.

* * *

"How exactly am I supposed to get rid of all North Korea's nuclear weapons?" Clark asked tiredly that evening.

The television in the castle lounge was playing the national news channel that was _again_ dissecting Harry's every gesture and word at the hearing. He was being portrayed as everything from god to the devil, a fame-seeking fan of the heroes to the man who created them.

Harry didn't care and neither did the Emperor and Prime Minister of Japan who were not about to question the gods.

"The military is assembling the missiles in a series of metal transport containers that will be secured together. All you need to do is carry them out of the atmosphere and then to the sun. It should take you the better part of two days."

"You couldn't have asked Hal to do this?" Clark asked. "He's the cop and he doesn't have school."

"I'm sure I can cover your absence." Emma said dismissively.

"That's not why I am asking though." Clark explained. "I'm curious as to why me? Why Superman?"

"If I asked Hal to do it then it might be seen as the Green Lanterns trying to dictate what Earth does." Harry explained. "Superman isn't affiliated with any country, just other heroes and me. I am a Brit living in America who works all over the world and now has Japanese protection, so my affiliation is suspect as well. You are neutral on planet Earth."

"Can you really fly in space?" Kusano asked with wide eyes as she sat on Clark's lap. "Can you take me?"

"Maybe one day. I'm different as I can hold my breath for a very time." Clark smiled.

"I can hold my breath too! Look!" Kusano proceeded to take a deep breath and held it.

Clark just watched calmly as the others giggled quietly.

After a few seconds she went red in her little cheeks and then released her breath. "See!" She said happily.

"Fool child! True Sekirei can hold their breath for _much_ longer!" Tsukiumi said indignantly.

The others just rolled their eyes.

"Uh uh!" Kusano shook her head violently. "I held it really long!"

"Watch child!"

"Did Tsukiumi just start a breath holding contest with a four year old?" Uzume asked as she leaned over to Matsu.

"Yep, isn't she so entertaining?" Matsu giggled.

Clark had discovered that as the inheritor of Higa's empire, he actually had legal custody of Chiho, or rather Martha did. Finding out she had an orphan to care for she immediately headed over and offered the young girl whatever she wanted. Chiho wanted to make Uzume happy after all she had done for her. Uzume had friends and she wanted to keep Uzume in contact with them, so she decided to enrol in Smallville High.

Chiho was something of a genius and picked up the English language easily, Uzume managed through sheer determination to make her Ashikabi proud.

"Tsukiumi." Miya said warningly from her seat between Lorna and Dani.

"Don't worry Cutie Pie. I'll help you get into space with Clark without needing to hold your breath." Dani promised.

Kusano just smiled happily.

"Will the army be coming back?" Lana asked.

"I doubt it, especially as every news station will have the video of Loki being assaulted by tomorrow." Amara answered.

"I'm just glad it doesn't show my naked breast." Loki scowled.

"It was the only way to prevent further attempts and to keep the charges on the General." Amara said soothingly.

"I still think we should kill the bastard." Diana sighed unhappily. Her Amazon teachings left little compassion for men like that.


	39. Chapter 39

Clark woke up in his usual position for these days: buried under Sekirei.

Instead of the others trying to help to him out of this situation, He had entered his room in the castle and discovered his bed had been enlarged. He had turned around to find the Cuckoos standing there smugly.

They informed him it would probably get larger in a few years before they skipped off.

"You know, you could just order them or ask them to sleep in different rooms."

Clark's head snapped up to find Emma standing at the foot of his bed in her standard costume and not dressed for school.

"Is there an emergency?" He asked as he tried to disentangle himself from Musubi's strong grip.

"Yes, you've been asleep for the better part of the day and we can't wake you up."

"All of us?" He looked at the girls around him worriedly.

"No Clark, you. You are still asleep, I have entered your mind telepathically."

"I'm dreaming? This is a fairly weird dream then. It's just like being awake."

"I have nudged you into a lucid state so you can control your dream. Now we need to discover what is keeping you here."

"Great, can you give me a hand here?"

"Lucid state, Clark. You control the dream, just will them away." Emma rolled her eyes.

* * *

Whilst Clark was practically comatose and unresponsive Kusano was getting quite upset. She didn't like Clark being hurt so Dani had taken her off to play with Amara. Chiho, Chloe and Kyla returned to the castle after school whilst Lana and the triplets were at cheerleading practice. They discovered Dani and Amara playing with Ryan, Kusano and Jessica, Earl's two-year-old daughter. They were dancing and catching various unusual animals that none of them had ever seen outside Disney cartoons.

"I didn't know we could do that!" Kyla grinned widely.

"Actually, that's Danielle's mutant gift." Amara explained as she joined them. "She can manifest the contents of a persons mind. It was actually a terrible curse in the beginning, she had no control and would randomly cause us to view our fears."

"Boy am I glad she got that under control." Chloe shuddered. "Hey! Do you think she would be able to help my mom communicate? They are still working with her but she can only speak through the triplets at the moment."

"It doesn't really work like that." Amara said apologetically. "It's a little dangerous from the point of view that there isn't much control over what is shown."

"How do you mean?" Chloe asked.

"I mean that she might start displaying your deepest fantasies." Amara smirked.

"Mine are definitely not rated for Ku then." Kyla laughed as Chiho and Chloe blushed.

"You have such amazing powers." Chiho said quietly.

"You'll have them too by Christmas. Maybe the summer, we just don't want you worrying about them whilst you acclimatise to America and a new school." Amara assured her. "Speaking of, how was your first day?"

"Busy… scary." She admitted.

"She's a year below us so we don't have classes together." Chloe explained.

"You aren't being bullied?" Amara asked carefully.

"I… do not know." Chiho admitted. "I am unused to American customs."

"Would you mind if the Cuckoos looked at your memories of today? They could help." Kyla asked. "They could explain what happened and what it meant."

"Seeing fantasy, reading minds… all so amazing." Chiho smiled softly. "I would appreciate help."

"As soon as they get back from Cheerleading we'll ask them." Kyla assured her.

* * *

"I didn't realise Tess and Helen had moved." Clark commented.

They had searched his dreams and come across Sarah Conroy standing in front of the trophy case at Smallville High. Emma informed him that she was one of the new residents of Lana's house.

She was supposed to be in a coma.

"Yes, they wanted more security at home and with their new status as Amazons they felt they owed it to their sisters to remain close to the Queen." Emma explained.

"Ok, Sarah, do you know you are in my dream?"

"I thought you were in mine." Sarah frowned.

"You have never been to this school, Miss Conroy. I don't see how you would be able recreate the school from nothing." Emma pointed out.

"I just assumed it was new. Oh god!" She exclaimed as she was clearly terrified by something behind Emma and Clark. "Please don't let him take me!"

Standing there was a figure in a red cape, other than that he looked almost like the Grim Reaper.

Except the Grim Reaper was technically at the school in the waking world serving as a doctor.

"Emma, you're the mind expert. Can you handle that whilst I watch Sarah?" Clark asked.

"Of course dear." She said as she began stalking forward in her usual powerful yet feminine manner.

"Sarah, what can you can tell me about that?" Clark asked.

He didn't receive a response and when he looked to Sarah she had vanished.

He had no idea how to track the girl down so he focused his attention on this cloaked figure to aid Emma. He knew he was stronger physically, but he needed to think in terms of this being a dream, his reality to mould.

"Allow me, Kal-El." Clark looked to his left and saw a female figure whose face was veiled but her garb was clearly that of the Norse.

"Njorun, we would welcome your aid." Clark said respectfully to the Norse Goddess of Dreams.

"I will handle the wraith, take your companion and seek out the girl. It is the least I can do for family."

"Thank you goddess." Clark said with bow. He turned to where Emma was confronting the wraith, as Njorun called it. "Emma, leave the wraith. The goddess has offered her aid." He called out.

Njorun flew at the wraith knocking Emma off balance so Clark sped in and caught her.

"Thank you Clark. It would appear you have earned yourself some respect among the pantheons if the gods are willing to offer their aid so freely." She commented.

"We'll have to see." Clark shrugged as they started walking. "Harry warned me that I would be used as focal point for the gods to enter the mortal realms now. He also said that they might start picking champions."

"That is not always a good thing." Emma worried. "Remember that although the gods will band together to deal with a threat to an Aspect like Harry, they are just like regular humans, some are as evil as Lionel Luthor."

"If there was ever a person I wouldn't mind Harry killing…" Clark muttered.

Emma sighed quietly. Lex's death had hit Clark hard. It had also driven him to the point where he realised that some individuals had absolutely no redeeming qualities or possibilities. It was better for everyone if they were killed.

They came to a door; the door to what would normally be Harry's office in the school.

"Are you ready?" Clark asked Emma.

"I don't understand?" Emma was confused.

"The girl, Sarah Conroy, she'll be behind this door." Clark explained as he opened the door. Sure enough standing in the room in complete befuddlement was Sarah Conroy.

"How did you know she would be here?" Emma asked.

"After becoming the Norse God of Thunder I researched everything I could on my new family. Some like Njorun had limited information. But Odin sent me information as he thought I was being very respectful. I know that Njorun is the Norse Goddess of Dreams. Her appearance in my dreams gives me true control through lucidity. She can also grant insight or prophecy through dreams, which is why I know exactly what is wrong here." Clark explained with a smile.

"Impressive Mr. Kent. So do tell, what needs to be done to fix this?"

"Get Harry to Sarah and take her uncle into custody. I'll keep Sarah company till we wake up."

"Very well, I will see you in a bit." Emma said as she vanished.

Clark had little choice but to explain certain things to Sarah. As he did so he led her back to find Njorun as he told Sarah they should really thank the goddess.

They found Njorun sitting primly on the bound figure that Sarah identified as 'The Traveller'. Clark briefly wondered if this had anything to do with the reports Bruce had given them on alien activity but Njorun assured him it was not.

Eventually the spectre of The Traveller vanished.

"Lord Death has corrected the problem." Njorun commented from behind her veil.

"Again, thank you goddess for your aid." Clark said with a slight bow.

"It was a pleasure, Kal-El. Perhaps in a few years this child might be willing to serve as my Champion." She said as she gently and kindly caressed Sarah's hair. "Speak with Mirage. She has experience with fantasies and nightmares."

Clark awoke suddenly to find Kyla, Martha and Jonathan sitting around his bed in the infirmary.

"About time lazybones." Kyla muttered as she leaned over and hugged him.

"Blame Harry, he keeps working me ragged." Clark joked. "Did I miss anything?"

"No, just two days of school." Martha assured him.

"As soon as Emma returned from your mind she and Harry headed off." Jonathan explained.

"I guess Lana is going to need some new tenants." Clark sighed as he swung his legs off the bed. "I prefer being hospitalised here. They don't make you wear those tiny gowns."

Martha and Jonathan sent a glare at Kyla who just tried to look innocent.

"What?" Clark asked worriedly.

"A certain member of the Kawatche tribe was found conspiring with a member of the Cheyenne tribe about giving you a complete physical." Martha remarked, there was a hint of a smile around her lips.

"It can't be any worse than waking up with Kazehana or Musubi gripping m- never mind." Clark stopped suddenly with wide eyes as he realised what he was about to reveal to his parents.

"That's it! I'm moving in with Clark. I was his first soul mate and I don't even get the benefits." Kyla pouted.

"Actually I was going to arrange for them to get their own rooms, or at least their own beds." Clark pointed out.

"Tough." Kyla stamped her foot before she teleported out.

"I miss having a bed to myself." Clark sighed.

"I hear you son."

Jonathan Kent didn't get to sleep in an empty bed that night but he did enjoy an empty couch.

* * *

At Clark's suggestion, the known heroes of the world were invited to North Korea to witness first hand as Superman would single handedly rid the country of its nuclear arsenal.

As Harry had promised, the missiles were loaded into containers and sealed together. Twenty-seven missiles with a nuclear payload loaded into large shipping containers.

"I want to come too!" Kusano demanded as they stood in a bunker nearby.

"Ku, we already explained this." Clark said as he stroked her hair. "You can't breathe in space and I will be out there longer than you can hold your breath."

"But Dani said we could go." She said with an adorable little pout.

"If Dani can make it happen then I promise to take you up a few days after I get back. Ok?"

"Ku, Clark has to go to the sun." Homura said softly. "The sun is big ball of fire. You know you aren't allowed around fire like Amara and me when we practice."

"I know." She said sadly.

"In a few days. I promise." Clark smiled at her as he hugged her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

One by one the Sekirei and castle residents gave him a hug and/or kiss. The men refrained from the kisses but Emma actually did kiss his cheek. That one shocked Clark into silence until Kyla elbowed him.

"How the hell did he get all those women?" The Flash muttered to the Green Lantern who was standing nearby, Batman was skulking in the shadowy corner.

"According to him, luck. He just can't decide whether its good luck or bad." Hal shrugged.

"How is it possibly bad?"

"He never has any free time for himself for a start. He can't spread out on his bed as it is always occupied. He has to take each one out on a date and some times more than one girl in a day-"

"Ok, I get it. The harem is not what its cracked up to be." Barry interrupted. "Still, it'd be nice to have just one girlfriend." He said wistfully.

"Just don't date any of your enemies." Hal warned. "It can only lead to bad things."

"The whole secret identity thing is a bit of dampener. You can't open with it because they might just want to date the costume, and revealing it later makes them think you are a jerk for hiding it."

"I guess I lucked out with Carol, she figured out who I was pretty-"

"You two are about to witness one of the most historic moments on the planet. Every television in the world is showing this. There are lip readers and body language experts examining everything you say. So shut up and pay attention." Batman growled in their ears from behind them.

Both men gulped as they hadn't realised he was that close.

The Batman was a terrifying figure. Neither hero was entirely comfortable around him.

But they did cease their talk on relationships.

The girls and non-costumed heroes weren't allowed out of the bunker in order to protect their identities. The Green Lantern and Flash nervously made their way out in front of a growling Batman.

Clark and Harry stood in front of the large metal cube made up of transport containers. Clark turned to Harry.

"If I find you have gotten yourself captured or done something stupid whilst I am gone… so help me I will have Jean and Neville drop you off at your home Earth with only Hippolyta for company."

"God Clark! That's… that's just plain sadistic!" Harry gasped in horror.

"And don't think for a second that your soul mates won't back me up."

"Fine! Fine! I'll behave." Harry said quickly.

Clark stared at Harry for a long moment before he let a smile drift onto his face. "Keep the girls safe and out of trouble?"

"Safe I can do. Out of trouble…" He waggled his hand. "I'll try."

Clark sighed and turned back to the cube. It had been placed over six-foot deep trench that led underneath the centre to make it easier for Clark to lift.

The world watched in amazement as a single being lifted the entire nuclear arsenal of one of the most feared countries on the planet and slowly began flying it into the air. Over the next hour they watched as Superman vanished into space and towards the sun.

* * *

Over the following few days things went by peacefully. Tsukiumi still tried to push her luck but her desire to be a part of a true Japanese noble family saw her quickly capitulating to Kyla who was recognised as the primary wife, Jonathan as the father of her husband, and Miya… who was just plain scary.

Sarah Conroy was introduced to the castle residents. Lorna immediately sought custody of the girl to make her a ward of her school whilst her uncle, who had been drugging her to keep her in a coma so he could control the money her parents had left her, was handed over to the Sheriff.

Sarah needed time to grieve as she was unaware that her parents had died in the car accident that saw them crash off the bridge and put her in a coma. For her it was as though it had only been yesterday she had seen them and had breakfast with them.

She remembered her dreams and when she told them the advice about seeking Mirage for help she was immediately handed over to Dani who used the codename 'Mirage' as an X-Man.

Chiho found that although she wasn't being bullied, there were some boys who were being a bit too forward. She was instructed on how to deal with them.

This included threatening them with various upper class men, including the school's star quarterback.

She was hesitant but the others kept a close eye on her and soon made it clear that she was well and truly protected by her group of friends. She began to find her own little niche in the Torch as a researcher. Kyla simply helped with printing and folding. She preferred to be outdoors or in the caves learning about cultures.

Three days after Superman had left he returned to Smallville.

He crashed into a country crossroad.

At over 1000mph.

The crater was over 100 metres wide and fifty feet deep.

Superman pulled himself out of the Clark-shaped hole in the centre of the crater as he tried to figure out what had gone wrong. He had carried the nuclear weapons to just beyond Mercury, from there he simply tossed it towards the sun as hard as he could and returned home.

He made it to Earth just as America entered daytime and he suddenly found himself out of control and hurtling towards Smallville, he barely had enough control to manoeuvre away from the actual town.

He looked around as he surveyed the crater. He would need to call in Harry to fix this. He flexed his legs and took to flight so he could see where he was.

He didn't make a foot off the ground before he became just another statistic to the laws of gravity.

Superman appeared to be grounded.

"Superman?"

He looked up to see a middle-aged man rumpled suit and trench coat but no tie climbing into the steaming crater.

"Sir, don't come any closer, this area is very dangerous." Superman warned.

The man stopped. "What just happened?"

"A slight accident." Superman grimaced. "Can you tell how far I am from Smallville and which direction it is?"

"Smallville? Four miles that way. What's in Smallville?" The man asked.

"A phone, for starters." Superman muttered.

Unfortunately the man heard him. "Who do you need to call? I have a cell." He said as he pulled his phone out.

"It's ok sir, I can just run there, but thank you." Superman said politely as he faced Smallville and started to run.

That was when he noticed he was still in the crater and not travelling faster than the speed of sound.

"Problem?" The man called over.

Superman slumped his shoulders and went to break the face of his watch.

He couldn't he wasn't strong enough.

This was not his day.

"I think I'll need to use your phone sir." Superman sighed.

"Call me Perry."

* * *

Superman was sitting on the side of the crater with Perry, their legs dangling over the edge. He was carefully asking questions about why Perry was in the area; Perry was a little cagey with his answers but seemed very interested in asking Superman questions. Fortunately Superman was just as cagey.

Eventually Harry drove up with Dani and Amara in a Range Rover.

"Wow, you certainly made an entrance." Harry commented as he surveyed the crater.

"Yes, but I am fairly powerless now." Superman scowled.

"Well, we will try and figure out what's wrong but for now we need to get Mr. White to his destination."

"How did you know my name?" Perry asked.

"I have many contacts at the Planet. I also know Pauline Khan fairly well."

"I don't suppose you'd let me stay and ask some questions?"

"That would be a 'no'. I don't do interviews, I just give out press statements." Harry smiled. "That way I can't be misquoted.

"Miss Moonstar will drive you to your destination whilst we wait for the work crews to come and deal with this."

"Come along Mr. White." Dani said as she took his arm and applied a little force to get him to the car.

As the car pulled off Superman turned to Harry. "What's wrong with me? I can survive a fall like this but I'm not strong enough to break my watch?"

"We made a slight miscalculation with throwing the nukes into the sun." Harry winced. "They caused a series of solar flares that are still occurring. You get your Kryptonian powers from the yellow sun so they are being thrown out of whack.

"Long story short, you aren't going to school this week."

"Great. I guess I will be stuck on the farm and at the castle."

"You do get to sleep alone though." Harry grinned.

* * *

Clark was brought up to speed on Perry White and his current career downturn. He was also informed that Sarah was now another permanent resident of the castle and that she was both a Smallville High student and one of Lorna's, but mainly her tutoring would be done by one of the telepaths or Dani.

Finding out that Dani was also known as Mirage made them realise he didn't know all their codenames, as he hadn't worked in the field with all of them.

The evening brought home a very angry Lana Lang and Scott Summers.

"Amara, put a restraining order on Perry White." Scott ordered. "He had the gall to try and ask Lana about her parents and how it all felt. The man has no decency."

"Of course. I'll handle it first thing in the morning."

"Next time, just try and land a few metres away Clark." Lana's anguish was clear. "You could save people a lot of trouble."

"That bad?" He asked.

"You might not remember your life before and during the meteor storm, Clark, but I do. I still miss my parents and feel the horror of seeing them die." She said tearfully.

Three identical blondes instantly surrounded her with a golden-haired limpet attached to her waist.

"Thanks guys, thank you Kusano." She said as she picked the little girl up.

"Clark, any word on how long you're grounded?" Scott asked, taking a seat between Dani and Lorna.

"A week, I will be stuck in the castle for a week."

"Not stuck in the castle, just not allowed around regular people." Harry corrected.

"What did you do with the crater?" Clark asked.

Harry just grinned.

"You see Kusano, when your dad smiles like that it means we should be very worried." Lana told the little girl on her lap as she continued to clear her still puffy eyes.

"Ok, but he looks happy." She pointed out.

"Sweetheart, when Daddy looks like that, it means that he had fun and someone else is at the very least… annoyed." Kazehana laughed.

"That's bad Daddy." Kusano wagged a finger at Harry causing the others to smile. "You are not supposed to annoy others."

"You're allowed to annoy the bad people Ku." Harry winked. "People like Minaka."

"So what did you do Harry?" Scott asked again.

"I turned it into a tourist trap."

Scott just sat there waiting for the explanation. He had thousands of years of experienced dealing with Harry.

"Ok, so I took some images of Superman, created a billboard and proclaimed the first crash landing spot of Superman."

"Why?!" Scott pleaded.

"Probably for the same reason Yukari wanted to get the first Superman autograph." Clark sighed.

"She did? That bitch!" Kyla groused. "OW!"

"There will be no swearing!" Miya stood there with her ladle.

"Seriously, where do you keep that thing?" Kyla asked as she rubbed her head.

Miya smirked as she returned to her seat between Musubi and Yume.

"Well, I was planning on asking Clark to help with this year's blood drive." Lana sighed. "You can't donate so I was hoping you would help run it."

"Unless you want every pen broken, no, I think I'll stay at home."

Clark was currently seated in an armchair on his own. He wasn't allowed to touch anyone in case he hurt them. This included a very disappointed Ku.

"Whilst you are 'off sick', you and I will spend some time going over runes and spells you can do." Loki told him. "By the time I am finished with you your lightning will be capable of vaporising metal." She grinned.

"Is _that_ a bad look?" Ku asked.

"Not for us, Sweetie." Lana shrugged.

* * *

Harry had called Pauline Khan about Perry White; being her former partner he figured she might have some insight. It turns out he had fallen into hard times and now worked doing the most bizarre stories he could find for a magazine called X-Styles. She suggested he might be in town to investigate the Kryptonite infected.

She also suggested that pointing him in the direction of the Luthors would keep him out of their hair.

Clark was pretty glad he was stuck at the castle, although the others weren't getting any happier whenever he accidentally ripped doors off. Kyla and his Sekirei were getting more and more grumpy as they were forced to stay away from Clark, they all craved the physical contact, but considering Clark would sometimes get up at speeds that tore the upholstery off the chair he was sitting in… it just wasn't smart to get too close to him.

Jean, who had had Scott blast her dead, was now happily crawling around. She seemed quite infatuated with Clark, which led to someone always having to keep an eye on her. Ku found her fascinating and was enjoying teaching all the things they were allowed to do.

Helen had invited Lana along to the Medical Centre with her to learn more about practical side of taking blood. She enjoyed it so much that Helen and Harry started looking into Phlebotomist training for Lana. She enjoyed fashion but she wanted to be able to help people more, like Clark did.

The Sheriff, at the request of the Luthors who took out a lawsuit against him, soon ran Perry out of town. Harry and his friends hadn't had to do a thing as a result other than a few of them having loud conversations within earshot of him about the Luthors.

Around the same time Clark's powers stabilised.

His bed was once again crowded.

More so as Kyla had insisted on joining them. None of this would have been an issue except that Kazehana refused to wear anything to bed. Musubi and Yume were eager to join in but Tsukiumi was scandalised. At least, that's how she acted.

Lana's enjoyment at learning medicine was delivered a bit of a downer when she received a request from a prisoner who was convicted of murdering her Great Aunt Louise. Naturally Lana was reluctant to visit a convicted murderer on her own, even if he was on his literal deathbed and incapable of actual harm at the moment. As such, Xander went with her.

They were surprised when the prisoner, Dex MacCallum, insisted he was innocent and just wanted someone from Louise's family to know that. The pair listened impassively and Xander promised to investigate.

"Are we going to go back in time to witness it?" Lana asked as she drove them back to the castle, Xander hadn't driven in a long time.

"No, can you honestly expect to just stand there and watch your aunt get murdered?" Xander asked. "I know I couldn't. I am comfortable killing the bad guys but I can't stand to see the innocent suffer. No, we will just ask Harry to call her soul here so we can ask her who killed her."

"Do you really think it will make a difference if we can find who really did it?"

"It will make a difference to Dex and the real killer."

"If Dex is really innocent, do you think Harry will help him? Make him younger?" She asked.

"I doubt it. Dex may have suffered in this life, but short of wiping his memories and turning him into a kid again, he will always have resentment for the world that locked him away. In the after life he can have a true new beginning."

"What about the newspaper clipping? I can't believe how much I look like my aunt or how… you know." She said uncomfortably.

"Clark looks like an seventy-year-old killer?" Xander grinned. "It's not Clark, but it might be a relative of his. That pendant looks like it has Kryptonian symbols, whoever gave the description had a really good memory."

* * *

After showing the images to the rest of the gang Clark, Kyla and Brunhilde were able to confirm that it was Kryptonian and that the symbol was actually on the walls of the cave. This led Xander and Lana to take the three plus Harry into the caves to investigate.

"If I touch that what are the chances that I'm going to get zapped like last time with the key?" Clark asked as Harry inspected the symbol.

"Low." Brunhilde answered. "I am learning more and more about these crystals Kryptonians used. I am close to generating a power source, I can tell you that there isn't enough power for much more than a light behind that symbol."

"It looks like the equivalent of a safety deposit box." Harry commented. He phased his hand and reached into the wall before withdrawing the same pendant in the picture.

"Why go to all this trouble to hide a necklace, what does it do or mean?" Xander wondered.

"I think it's a type of storage unit." Harry mused. "It has an embedded crystal and everything about it reminds me of a memory chip for cameras."

"Oh right… twentieth century." Xander sighed. "Still takes some getting used to." He shrugged at Lana's look.

"They don't use micro-chips in the future." Clark explained. "They use some form of light storage, but strangely, not crystals."

"Don't worry about it Clark." Brunhilde said. "You haven't had the basic education so you wouldn't be able to grasp it. In a few centuries we might begin to touch on it."

"Ok, this thing is encrypted to respond to a DNA trigger." Harry announced.

"How can you tell?" Kyla asked.

"It keeps trying to sample mine." Harry smiled.

"Kryptonian DNA?" Clark asked warily.

"I only know of one sample." Harry nodded pointedly at the last Son of Krypton. "Look, this thing hasn't tried to kill or hurt me so I don't think it will hurt you."

"There has to be another way though." Clark argued.

"Well, Harry could just call on Louise's soul and ask her."

"Dammit Dad!" Harry snapped.

"You just want to experiment on me!" Clark accused.

"It would give us a-"

"No!"

"Fine. Hold on a second." Harry sulked as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

A few seconds later and a near carbon copy of Lana Lang appeared.

"Wow. It really is like seeing double."

"Joe? Is that you?" Louise asked in awe.

"No, ma'am, I'm not Joe." Clark said quickly. "Who is Joe?" He added.

"Joe… he… I always wondered what had happened to him. I couldn't find him after I died but I know he was shot as well by that mugger." She said sadly.

"It's been about forty years since then Louise." Harry pointed out.

"Oh, Lord Death, forgive my manners, I was just surprised at seeing who I thought was Joe." She blushed.

"Just call me Harry. Now, what's this about you being shot by a mugger? It wasn't Dex MacCallum?"

"Dex? No, he wouldn't hurt a fly. I still feel bad for cheating on him. I hate that he was accused of my murder, please help him sir."

"I'll see what I can do. You wouldn't happen to know the name of this mugger?"

"Luthor, something Luthor, I really wasn't with it that day after Joe saved me." She said apologetically.

"Don't worry, there is a long line of Luthor's around here who are all thieves." Xander smirked.

"Then I am glad to be of help. You really do look like me, don't you?" Louise said as she turned to Lana. "It seems so strange considering you look like Joe. Are you two together?"

"Not yet." Kyla spoke up quickly with a grin.

"Oh, that's a shame. Don't let love pass you by, Dear. I found mine but died shortly after, but I don't regret a single moment." She said earnestly.

"Don't worry, we're working on them." Kyla grinned with Xander and Brunhilde as Clark and Lana glared at her.

"Thank you for your help Louise, I'll let you go now." Harry said.

"It was an honour to meet you sir." She curtsied as she faded away.

"How come she wasn't naked?" Kyla asked into the silence.

"Because I don't think Lana would appreciate everyone seeing how she looks in the nude." Harry grinned.

* * *

As good as Louise's testimony was in proving Dex's innocence to the Castle residence, it was useless in a court of law. Lana and Xander were going to find a way to clear his name and Clark had joined them as he decided he wanted to know more about 'Joe'.

Harry had a call from The Flash so he headed over to help out with Akitsu and Miya in tow. Akitsu refused to let Harry leave Smallville without her as she feared losing him again, Miya was similar but wanted to spend more time reconnecting with her husband.

"Barry, how can we help?"

"Whoa, what are you doing here?" Barry asked as he quickly checked the surrounding cops and lab techs in the forensics department where he worked.

"You called for help, remember?"

"I called as…the other guy!"

"Relax, no one can tell what we are talking about." Harry said dismissively. "Meet Akitsu, my daughter, and Miya, my wife."

"I thought the blonde was your wife."

"I have a lot of wives."

"And you haven't been castrated yet… how?"

"It helps that they knew about each other before I married them and that most of us were married at the same time."

"You're worse than the kid!"

"Nah, mine were all voluntary." Harry grinned. "Clark kind of got lumbered with his lot."

"Hal and I still don't know if he's blessed or cursed."

"He says cursed. Now, what's your big issue?"

"There's this friend of mine, he turned up dead after crashing a science expo with a bunch of armed men. The thing is… the next day I found him alive and well in my apartment."

"Definitely sounds like my area of expertise." Harry nodded.

"It gets worse." Barry warned.

"Go on." Harry said slowly.

"So I find him, after he broke into my apartment, then the door gets kicked in and he says we have to run. Now I've known Manuel for a long time, he says run and I run. We start running and two guys are chasing us, I fake a trip into the river so I can… suit up." He explained cryptically. "By the time I reach Manuel there is a whole gang of people holding him.

"All of them him."

"As in… clones?"

"Hell if I know. I knocked them around a bit but they had another friend of mine and I had to let them go with Manuel… the real Manuel."

"All these clones, they were working together but not with the original?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, they said I should forget about Manuel."

"Your friend, she is ok?" Miya asked.

"Iris? Yeah, they let her go easily enough, makes me hope there is some of Manuel in them."

"Alright, first job is to find your pal Manuel." Harry decided.

"We must also protect his friends." Miya added.

* * *

Harry had Barry give them the location of where he had lost sight of Manuel. Once there they realised they needed a tracker, so they called in Logan who was accompanied by Hikari and Hibiki.

It was already late in the day and they were working by conjured lights, then all hell broke lose as the city was plunged into darkness.

"Harry, my hairs are standing on end. That was an EMP blast." Logan growled as he touched his watch and his clothes morphed into his costume. The girls all did the same.

"The question is how big is the radius." Harry wondered.

"Those planes are coming down."

"Shit, call in the gang, everybody on deck!"

Harry glanced to the side and saw Logan holding a ladle and a very annoyed Miya standing next to him. They would probably pay later.


	40. Chapter 40

Everyone split into groups to handle various issues. Superman and Harry dealt with the planes, The Flash managed to save one by phasing it through a bridge but he didn't want to try it twice.

Cyclops and the White Queen headed to Barry's precinct to help with coordination.

Wolverine, Xander and most of the Sekirei headed to the island super-max prison of Iron Heights. They were tasked with keeping the prisoners in line and killing the ones who refused to comply.

The rest spread out through the affected city, their job was to enforce order and deal with idiots. This was the first real mission for the five new Amazons.

"Captain Frye, I'm-"

"Cyclops and the White Queen, I know who you are." Frye frowned as the two costumed heroes marched into the squad room; they had caught the attention of everyone, especially the White Queen with her… 'costume'. "Jim Gordon warned me you might show up when the Flash started making waves. What do you want?" He asked bluntly.

"We are here to help, Captain." Emma explained. "Our friends are out there now helping to keep order whilst Superman tries to stop the planes falling out of the sky. Some of our friends are at Iron Heights making sure your incarcerated super villains don't try and take advantage of the black out and keeping the guards safe."

"We've come to you to see if we can aid you in coordination or any other areas." Cyclops added.

"Fine, just make sure you are gone before the government sends more goons after you. I don't want to be caught in a pissing match with them." He grunted.

"They won't be a problem." Cyclops assured him.

"Major problems are communication and transportation. What ever caused this fried all electronics."

"We suspect an EMP blast." Cyclops confirmed. "We can have a new communication system here within the hour. We can also get some vehicles here as well."

"What if this happens again and those devices stop working?"

"We will supply you with hardened equipment. It should be able to survive an EMP at the least."

* * *

There were six planes and two helicopters over the city when the blast occurred. Superman could easily catch a plane and place it on the ground, but not six in a matter of minutes. Not without ripping the plane to pieces and severely injuring the passengers.

Which is exactly what happened.

Superman would grab the plane and super-speed it to the nearest open space. The speed he moved at caused the wings to sheer off and the windows to shatter. The passengers all suffered from a minimum of whiplash.

Fortunately Harry was there and he entered each plane and made sure all the passengers were healed. Including the few who decided to have heart attacks and die. The Flash had managed to save the first one as even with how fast Superman was the Flash was simply faster.

"Ok, we're done for now." Superman breathed out heavily. It wasn't physically tiring, just mentally and emotionally. All the panicking passengers, the terrified screams and the close calls… it could be very draining.

"I'm heading for Cyclops and Emma. You do what you can in the city." Harry instructed. "Make yourself as visible as possible. People need to see the hero at work, it will give them hope."

"Understood." Superman was not a fan of fame, but he understood the psychology behind it thanks to Scott's teachings.

%

The prisoners had broken out of the structure and were now on the outer grounds of the island. But they froze at the sight of array of beautiful women in short black dresses with flowing capes and Japanese swords.

Slightly more intimidating was the man in front of them dressed in a tight yellow outfit with a head covering mask and blue accents. Not to mention the three large claws protruding from between the knuckles on each hand.

Even _more_ intimidating was the Dark Lord of the Sith standing there in his black cloak with his face obscured by his hood and a green lightsabre in one hand.

"Now is a good time to return to your cells." Wolverine growled.

"Who the hell are you?" One man demanded.

"Who cares, they brought more chicks. Their cool in my books." Another grinned lasciviously.

The Sith Lord's hand shot out and the man slumped to the floor, he wasn't dead and he wasn't unconscious… but he was immobilised.

"Tonight my Master takes the soul of that one." The figure declared in a gravelly voice.

"Shit! They have a Sith!" A Star Wars nut of a prisoner screamed. Incidentally, he wasn't incarcerated for being a Star Wars nut.

"I am the Hand of Death." Xander announced. "Unless you want my Master to claim _all_ your souls then you should return to your cells or we will be forced to prepare you for his arrival."

"I'm really hoping you want to meet his master." Wolverine smirked.

The Sekirei stood there impassively and emotionlessly. Over the past weeks Miya and the other members of the Disciplinary Squad had taught them all how to be behave as members. They had all begun patrolling Tokyo on a regular basis, tracking down Sekirei and Ashikabi.

"I don't care who you are. Nobody incarcerates Captain Cold! When I'm done with you I'll deal with that fool the Flash." A tall pale blue older man declared as he threw his hands out sending a blast of cold at the group.

He was met by far more powerful flames from Homura. The steam was waved away by a wind generated by Kazehana.

"That one made his choice." Death's Hand stated as he waved a hand and Captain Cold fell to the ground as well.

Slowly some of the prisoners turned and walked back inside.

But criminals are not the smartest people. Most of them saw their chance for freedom and they charged the assembled group.

Iron Heights would have a much smaller population by the end of the night.

* * *

Meanwhile, the others were dealing with a more annoying situation. The Phoenixes were flying over the worst parts of the city and singing to calm it, except Jean who was too young at barely four years old. She and Kusano were in the safe hands of Earl and his family.

The annoying part wasn't prying the injured out of crashed cars and stalled elevators. No, it was dealing with the idiot drivers who decided to ignore the fact that this was a citywide incident and blame each other.

"I don't care if he swerved into the wrong lane!" Kyla shouted at the man in the business suit with the expensive car and likely even more expensive dent. "He had no control, you have a problem with that then take it up with the government."

The man proceeded to threaten her with a lawsuit so she stunned him and bound him.

"Have a nice day." She said politely to the man with the two little girls who had been the other victims in this mess.

"Bye!" The seven-year-old girls called out as she took to the air.

"Really Kyla, he was that bad?" Tess smirked as she joined her in the air.

"He's one of those people that thinks they are entitled. Like the Luthors. I'm damn glad our Lex found you first, no telling what would have happened if Luthor got to you."

"Me too, although days like this make me long for when we can move permanently to the island." Tess sighed.

"And what if you find yourself some nice man to settle down with?" Kyla teased.

"I'll cross that bridge when it comes up. Maybe Harry will have conquered the world by then."

They heard shouting nearby, exchanging a tired look they headed over to deal with the looters taking advantage of the lack of police and alarms.

* * *

With the major incidents like falling planes dealt with Superman was sent to North Korea to pick up various supplies and bring them back. Mainly the emergency things like generators for the hospitals. The Koreans had placed these things in reinforced shipping containers that so Superman didn't have to worry about moving too slowly. It still took nearly fifteen minutes there and back.

By the time the rest of the world was waking up the city was approaching something resembling order. Of course several major shopping districts were lined with bound and gagged individuals who learnt the hard way that pissing off a magical Amazon was not a smart idea.

The prisoners of Iron Heights who had peacefully returned to their cells where sealed in with a promise from the guards that they would put in a good word with the parole board.

Those that chose to fight were left bleeding and dismembered on the shores of the island as they awaited judgement from Lord Death.

Harry turned up pretty quickly and started destroying souls. Until he came to one young man.

"What are you in for?" Harry asked the young black man who barely looked to be out of college.

"I was accused of murdering my best friend." He said sourly.

"Did you do it?"

"What does it matter?"

"Answer the question." Harry ordered.

"No I didn't do it, but the cop who did framed me." He snarled.

"Why did you come out and fight?" Harry knew the kid was telling the truth, but his actions didn't make sense.

"Figured it was a chance to escape, try and clear my name or at least kill the cop who killed my friend."

"But then the team turned up and you still fought."

The kid snorted with a hint of embarrassment. "Yeah, I didn't think they knew what they were up against. Thought I could help out a bit. I smashed a few heads, but I think I might have just got in the way."

Harry just chuckled. "That team of people has taken out entire armies with just their swords."

"I can believe it." He nodded.

"Alright, I'm taking you to Captain Frye of the police. Hopefully he'll listen to me. Wolverine, keep this one safe, he's innocent." He called over his shoulder.

"Baby-sitting? Really?" He grumbled.

"Suck it up old man."

"I thought your dad was 'Old Man'."

"Compared to you he is, but then again, so am I. But you still call me 'Kid'."

Wolverine just sighed. "Still don't mean I like this."

* * *

"I've been suspicious about you super types ever since the incident in Gotham." Frye admitted to Cyclops and the White Queen. "But you seem to be on the level. Can't say I appreciate you hiding your identities though."

"Keep yourself honest and we'll tell you who we are. Commissioner Gordon is aware of our identities because he has proven himself." Cyclops informed him.

"Captain Frye, we just got reports that the army is rolling in. They're headed this way." A nearby radio operator called out.

"If I haven't missed my guess then you are not going to want to be here when they arrive." Frye said pointedly to the two heroes.

"True. But we don't like leaving you in the lurch." Cyclops frowned.

Frye laughed loudly. "Lurch? It's taken the government nearly twelve hours to get here; you've been here since the blast happened _and_ you brought in equipment from overseas. I may have my reservations about you Supers but you're welcome back, just do me a favour and let me know if you are in town."

"Hey! Someone get that kid in cuffs!" Frye shouted as Harry marched in with his wrongly convicted charge.

"Not so fast Captain." Harry countered. "He's innocent."

"I sincerely hope you have more than his word on that." Frye said sceptically.

"I know a good few lie detectors who are infallible." Harry smiled. "He's telling the truth and he helped out when his fellow inmates tried to escape Iron Heights."

"What's your name kid." Frye asked, his expression was unforgiving; he wasn't going to accept anything but cold, hard evidence.

"Andrew Jackson."

"Look kid, I need your real name, stop-"

"It's in my files, the names Jackson and my Ma decided to name Andrew." The young said unhappily. "She didn't take into account that every time a cop stops a black kid and he gives his name as Andrew Jackson they think he's offering a bribe."

Harry just stood there trying not to laugh.

"Its not funny!" Andrew snapped.

"Yes it is."

"You try being stopped every time you come across a cop and then having to prove your really named after the guy on the twenty dollar bill."

"Ok, so it's a little annoying, but after all the crap I've been through in my life, you'd see the funny side." Harry said, still smiling.

"Look, I can pull his records but without evidence I can show a judge there isn't much I can do." Frye explained.

"What if I call in a few private investigators, get them to poke around. I'd rather this was done externally though, he was framed by a cop."

"Are you an idiot?!" Frye hissed as he moved in closer and checked the area for anyone listening. "You can't walk into a precinct and accuse cops of corruption!"

"Sure I can. I just did." Harry smiled happily.

"If any cop heard you you could get yourself in a lot of trouble." He was hissing as quietly as he could.

"Any cop who has a problem with me doing the right thing and seeking justice isn't worthy of the position… and I would be happy to take them on." Harry's smile was no longer happy but more… sinister.

Frye sighed but didn't step back. "How many people heard the kid say a cop framed him?"

"None, just the heroes who brought him to my attention. But he won't be safe in this city."

"No kidding." Frye sneered sarcastically. "I can't contact the DA, I can't send him to any facilities where he might get recognised… just what the hell am I supposed to do about this?"

"Cyclops, take him somewhere safe, I'll get the details from you later."

"You can't just take a prisoner, there are rules, forms-"

"Huge miscarriages of justice."

"This needs to be investigated."

"And it will be. Focus on the current crisis and leave the kid to me." Harry said firmly. "If you need me you can contact me through Jim Gordon."

"Gordon! Can you give him to Gordon?" Frye said suddenly. "I can handle a verbal transaction."

"You want to put me in a Gotham prison?" Andrew asked fearfully. "I'd be safer in Iron Heights!"

"Don't worry, the Commissioner will keep you in the precinct, it will only be for a few days." Harry assured him.

"You really think it will be that quick?" Frye scoffed.

"Probably quicker. My team is pretty smart. And pretty." Harry added thoughtfully.

"Fine, take him. I'll call Jim in- whenever I can get a signal… or a phone that works."

* * *

Emma had taken the more practical move of bringing Jim Gordon to Captain Frye. Although a bit startled and requiring proof of whom he was talking to, it did help move things along.

Andrew Jackson was then teleported to Gotham with Commissioner Gordon by Cyclops and the White Queen.

Clark returned to Smallville with Lana so they could continue trying to prove Dex MacCullum's innocence. The Sekirei returned to their normal duties in Tokyo.

Laura, Chloe and Kyla were given the task of proving Andrew Jackson's innocence.

Barry Allen was stuck with patrolling the city as a cop in the aftermath of the EMP blast but a co-worker, Patty Spivot, found some leads and managed to finagle the area containing a lead from Frye for them to patrol. Due to the lack of vehicles they were forced to use horses. This was a new experience for Barry, Miya and Akitsu. The two Sekirei were used to horses thanks to working on the farm but they had yet to ride them.

Miya was no longer wearing her uniform and both women were dressed in jeans and blouses more suited for work like this. Neither of them were used to the garments and were soon itching like crazy.

They checked several places before they reached the end of Patty's list.

"There are definitely people in this one." Harry informed them.

"How the hell do you know that?" Patty asked, she didn't know about Barry being the Flash and she didn't know about Harry and the Sekirei, she just thought they were friends of Barry's.

"It doesn't matter. Weapons out people." Harry ordered as he marched towards the warehouse.

Barry and Patty paused for a moment as the two Japanese women followed Harry. They then quickly ran after them with their weapons drawn.

They stalked their way into the building with Harry handling any locks surreptitiously. The first worrying thing they came across was two Manuel-clones dragging a long black bag and arguing about killing a doctor.

"Sweetheart, go and stop those two will you. Akitsu, you too. Don't worry about keeping them alive them though." Harry whispered.

Both Sekirei touched their watches and their clothes morphed into their black uniforms.

"What the hell!"

"Shh!" Barry hissed at Patty. "Later."

Harry gestured for the other two to follow him as they heard Miya challenge the pair of clones and demand their surrender. Patty and Barry turned back when they heard gunfire but Harry just reached back and pulled them on.

"They'll be fine." He said calmly.

As they moved they had to hide in the shadows as more clones started running through the corridors towards the commotion and more gunfire was heard.

The corridors were now clear but only because they were all shooting at Miya and Akitsu.

Harry opened a heavy metal door and they were met with the sight of Manuel strapped to a chair with his hands cut off.

Harry shuddered. "Why did they do this?" He demanded, is voice was gravelly and smoke was billowing from his mouth.

"Barry man, who is this guy?" Manuel asked worriedly.

"Whoa there son, reign it in."

The other three occupants of the room were startled when a tall lanky man appeared in the room and started hugging Harry.

"You can fix it and we'll gut the bastards." Xander whispered into his son's hair as he held him.

It wasn't unusual for Harry to be disturbed by the sight of such callous mutilations. He couldn't go to certain African countries without a Phoenix to calm him, the first time it had happened in his home world it had taken nearly the entirety of the castle to calm him and prevent him from performing a mass cleansing of the world.

"I'm better." Harry said quietly. "It's ok." He pushed away from Xander slightly. He gave his dad a grateful nod and Xander released him.

"Why did they do this to you?" Harry asked again.

"Any part of me cut off grows back, but my clones come from my severed parts." Manuel explained as Xander released him from his bonds.

The door suddenly slammed open and Miya and Akitsu rushed in.

"Father! Are you well?" Akitsu asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. Just some old horrors come back to haunt me." He said as he kissed his Sekirei on the forehead.

"Your rage… it… consumed us." Miya said softly. "We… we lost ourselves, killed them all."

"Don't worry, I know what's happening, it doesn't really matter about the clones."

"You killed them?" Manuel asked, horrified. "All they wanted to do was live! They were dying!" He said angrily as he rose out of his chair aggressively. Xander quickly put a hand on him.

"Pipe down or I'll see to it that you never make another clone again." He snapped.

"I know what you are, Manuel." Harry said in clear voice. "I knew a man like you, he had much better control though. You can learn control and you can learn to generate clones in a better manner."

"There were other subjects the CIA experimented on?" Manuel asked, his curiosity overriding his anger.

"No, just another individual with powers like yours."

"I- I can't hear them… or feel them." Manuel said, he sounded lost.

Harry instructed Barry and Patty to head back on patrol, he promised to bring Manuel round later and gave Barry permission to tell Patty all about him, even if he didn't tell her about himself.

Harry teleported Manuel to Jonathan and Martha, he needed a healing environment and someone to talk to. With Jean still a child they were down a counsellor, Emma would need to consider taking a sabbatical or promoting Terrance.

Brunhilde, Laura and Matsu were called into deal with the warehouse due to the fairly advanced hardware they found there. They were able to determine that this equipment was the cause of the EMP blast and that is was an accident and not a terrorist attack.

Captain Frye was greatly relieved.

The lab suffered an unfortunate fire and subsequent explosion that destroyed all the equipment.

There were reports of a young woman of Native American descent seen in the area dancing around the flames.

* * *

"You know who we should have brought?" Kyla asked grumpily as she sifted through the various files and documents related to Andrew Jackson's case. "Chiho. She is amazing at this sort of thing."

"If we hit a dead end we'll call in help." Laura assured her.

"I want to know why this Dillon Adaire isn't already on IA's radar." Chloe scowled. She was going through Adaire's personal files; he was the cop that had framed Jackson. "He has a ton of complaints against him."

"Maybe he has someone in IA covering for him." Kyla shrugged.

"It happens, Internal Affairs Officers are still just cops but they sometimes let the extra power go to their heads. They can also be as corrupt as the criminals, just like regular cops." Laura agreed.

"Have you got anything Kyla?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing good, his DNA was on the barrel of the gun, his bloody prints on the grip, he was arrested at the scene of the crime by Adaire. If Harry didn't know he was innocent then even I'd think he was guilty."

"Why was his DNA on the barrel?" Laura asked.

"It doesn't say, it just says that there was burnt flesh and blood there."

"Do you have the pictures of Jackson when he was processed?" Laura asked eagerly.

"Somewhere in here…" Chloe muttered as she rummaged through the file. "I really need to scan these to make it easier." She grumbled. "I can't find it, is Barry still around? Maybe he can help."

"Still on patrol." Kyla answered.

"I find can't any pictures of Jackson other than his booking photo."

"Well that's wrong, the reports say he was covered in blood, is there a GSR report?" Laura asked.

"GSR… that's the, erm…"

"Gun Shot Residue, jeeze Kyla, watch some TV!" Chloe teased.

"Shut up! I prefer being outdoors." She retorted. "I can't see it. What will it tell us?"

"If he fired the gun or was near a gun when it was fired." Laura answered.

"How did this case even make it to court?" Chloe asked incredulously. "So far we have a corrupt cop, a corrupt IA detective, and now we might have rats in forensics, the DA's office and possibly a judge."

"Don't mistake corruption for incompetence." Laura warned. "There is a difference, but the outcomes are often the same."

"Why don't we ask Commissioner Gordon to process Jackson now? Also to take a testimony?" Chloe suggested. "If he has a scar from the barrel then it might match up."

"What scar?" Kyla asked.

"The burnt DNA on the barrel of the gun, depending on where it came from it might mean he was struck with the gun or someone tried to force it into his hand or he was defending himself from it." Chloe explained.

"Ah crap, someone needs to go and make sure the gun is still in evidence then." Kyla scowled.

* * *

Whilst the case of Andrew Jackson was being investigated, Lana and Clark were still attempting to figure out how to prove Dex's innocence.

Chiho handed them a folder.

"Chiho… this is the official file on the murder _and_ Lachlan Luthor." Lana said in shock.

"Sheriff Adams was very helpful." She said.

"She was?" Clark asked. "Maybe we should have you deal with her from now on." He teased.

"I would be very happy to work for you Clark." She said with bow.

"Relax Chiho, we're all just kids and students here." Clark assured her. The girl still held him in some awe because of… everything. She went to school with Superman, the owner of the largest and most powerful company in Japan and the one who had saved her Uzume… there was no way she couldn't be in awe.

"Did you take a look yet?" Lana asked as she leafed through the photocopied pages.

"I did, I was not sure if you-"

"Any help you can give is appreciated." Clark assured her. "Tell us what you found."

"Sheriff Tate, he released Lachlan Luthor from prison the day Louise MacCallum was killed."

"Dex was a respected member of the community, why would Tate automatically assume he killed his own wife?" Clark wondered.

"I hate to say it, but only Tate can answer that. The answers might be in the pendant." Lana pointed out.

"Yes, but what else might be in there?" Clark countered.

"You could ask the Cuckoos to read Mayor Tate's mind." Chiho offered.

"They really don't like doing that and I really don't like them doing that." Clark grimaced. He saw Chiho's face fall. "It's a good idea if we were dealing with a murderer on the loose and needed to find them but there isn't an immediate danger."

"No, but Dex MacCallum is losing more and more days of freedom."

The three students turned to see the aforementioned Cuckoos standing at the door. "We take reading minds very seriously." Phoebe told them.

"We know exactly what each of you is thinking right now." Mindee continued.

"But we put it out of our minds immediately because it is not our place to know what you are thinking." Celeste finished.

"We'll stop by the town hall after school and see what we can find out." Phoebe promised.

* * *

Things were finally wrapping up in Central City. Laura and the girls had more than enough evidence to get Frye to call in official investigators from the State or Federal authorities. Jackson was moved to a minimum security open prison whilst the evidence was processed and his name cleared. He was due to be free within a month.

The Cuckoos confirmed that the Mayor was guilty as sin, a quick visit from Death's Hand had him down the Sheriff's office confessing.

Manuel was fairly concerned to find himself back to school with young children. He couldn't help but be smitten with Kusano but he was frequently slapped by the other Sekirei and women when his womanising nature came out.

It didn't help that Kusano would be standing there giving him a disappointed look.

Barry was frequently over to visit with Manuel and to try and help the man who had been like a brother to him.

"So can you make any more… yous?" Barry asked after the first week.

"Yeah, no more cutting off parts, just gotta hit something. The Doc did something to me and now I can absorb them too. Says the CIA didn't make me like this, they just unlocked it."

"That's good, because the self-mutilation… really not the way to go."

"Yeah." Manuel chuckled. "Listen man, the Doc, he says I need to get out of America. He's setting me up with some sweet digs in North Korea of all places."

"What? Why?"

"I'm ex-CIA man. I have some thing they would kill to have. I can either live in hiding here in the States or be semi-free in North Korea, maybe find myself a nice chica and settle down."

"Whoa! Back it up a bit there! You? Settle down?"

Manuel just slugged him on the shoulder. "Yeah, I know. But you know what? After the horrors I've been through? I could use a break. The Doc is setting me up with the government and they are going to offer me any jobs I might want to do for them. He says they won't force me."

"Yeah, he rules North Korea."

"Wait, he wasn't joking about that?" Manuel asked with wide eyes.

"I was there when Superman took their nukes into space. Most amazing thing I ever saw." Barry muttered in awed remembrance.

* * *

Barry had his own problems to deal with and he had called Harry to consult with Dr. Elias, Harry dragged Clark along.

"Dr. Elias says I'm pulling stuff out of the past and it's just going to get worse." The Flash explained. So far Dr. Elias only knew the Flash and not Barry Allen.

"True, you need to practice."

"Practice! We need to destroy this… Speed Force!" Elias exclaimed.

"Ok Darwin, you need more information than you have." Harry said as he conjured a set of armchairs for everyone.

"My god! What did you do?" Elias exclaimed at the sight of magic.

"I manipulated a specific form of energy that current technology has no means of detecting." Harry decided to take the scientific route. "It has been known throughout history as 'magic'."

"Magic?"

Clark was surprised when the scientist didn't seem offended by the suggestion, merely intrigued. "So all the stage magicians who-"

"No, they are mostly illusionists who are excellent with the sleight of hand. I'll give you the full run down another time but for now let me assure you that the Speed Force, as you and Barry call it-"

"Barry?"

"Thanks for asking permission, Harry." The Flash sighed as he deactivated costume.

Elias just chuckled. "That certainly explains why you vanished during the attack."

"Yes, but getting back to the issue." Harry interjected. "The Speed Force is not causing temporal rifts because you have miss-named it. The Speed Force is actually Time. Time is an Aspect of Existence like Death, Magic and Love, recent events have caused the Aspects to react and they did so by choosing Avatars. Barry was chosen as the Avatar of Time. He can tap into the powers of Time and increase the rate at which he can operate.

"My educated guess is that Barry will be able to not only traverse the streams of Time like I can but also reverse a Time stream, that is something I have never done and will likely never do short of other Aspects giving me their approval." Harry said fiercely.

"Who the hell are you?" Darwin Elias asked in incredulous shock. "You are honestly telling me that not only can you time travel but that certain elements that we know of like Death, Love and Time are sentient and thinking beings?"

"Hi, I'm Death." Harry said with a happy grin as he held out his hand.

Elias raised an eyebrow and looked at Clark and Barry.

"It's true." Clark nodded with a sigh. It was never easy making these revelations to people. "He has taken me through time, space and dimensions _and_ I have seen him destroy souls, revert them back to their initial spark _and_ bring people back from the dead… sometimes so he can just chat to them. His own dad recently came back to life to help out and he's been dead for around twenty million years."

Elias looked to Barry.

"I haven't witnessed much but something is telling me to trust him. I just can't describe it."

"That is your patron, The Aspect known as Time."

Clark was instantly on his feet with Harry as he bowed to the beautiful goddess Aphrodite.

"Lady Aphrodite, always a pleasure." Harry smiled as he stepped towards her and exchanged a kiss.

When they separated she looked to Clark with a teasing smile. "Come now Kal-El, surely you will not always make me come to you?"

Clark couldn't help but chuckle as he stepped forward and exchanged a kiss with Aphrodite, this one was a lot deeper than the last, but he took it in stride. "It is good to see you again." Clark assured her. "You should come and visit the girls, I'm sure you know all about them."

"Of course! I would have loved have to have been there with you in Tokyo but it would have been wrong. It was your mission."

Aphrodite turned to Barry. "Barry Allen, the first Avatar of Time." She said in greeting as she performed one of those bows that had Clark wondering how she didn't fall out of her toga.

"Errr…. Ummmm. Hhhuuu" Barry was practically drooling.

Clark raised a finger and zapped him.

"OW!"

"Pull yourself together man." Harry snapped, but he and Aphrodite were both smirking.

"Nice to meet you ma'am." He managed.

"Doctor Darwin Elias, I came to help Lord Death provide answers Barry Allen, the Avatar of Time and yourself, his mortal advisor." She said as she formerly addressed the Doctor. "I am the Greek Goddess, Aphrodite. I am an Avatar of Love, all that Lord Death has told you is true."

Elias just stood there staring… but he was more of a gentleman than Barry. "My Lady, your beauty is nearly proof enough." He said with bow.

"Ah, such manners and class. Something that is sorely lacking these days." Aphrodite smiled as she returned his bow, but this time with a curtsy of the same style.

"Forgive me for my reticence, but this is all quite startling news." Elias said as Harry indicated for them to sit.

"Well we did just change your perception of existence in less than five minutes, we can give you a pass for that." Harry smirked.

"I think the bottom line for Barry is that until he gets more practice he's going to keep accidentally pulling things in from the past… maybe even the future." Clark stated.

"But he is currently _risking_ existence." Elias pointed out.

"Time will not allow its Avatar to endanger itself in such a manner." Aphrodite assured him. "Certain mistakes are allowed for 'teething' purposes, but it will always step in before things get too bad."

"Plus, if things do get bad then I can possibly help fix them." Harry pointed out.

"What if you sent Barry to Thor and the others?" Clark suggested. "Could one of them help train him better?"

Harry thought about that for a moment. "Barry is the only Avatar of Time. Any others would have been sent my way by Time like Barry was. But there are speedsters and scientists with more experience and technology."

"He doesn't mean any offence Doctor Elias." Clark said quickly. "The scientists are thousands of years in the future and have been dealing with super powered people and aliens for longer."

"Sounds amazing." Elias said with awe.

"Yes, a good plan Clark." Harry nodded. "Doctor, you can go with him. I'll send Virgil and Cyrus too. They are struggling with a few FTL concepts so they can learn something as well."

"I can't just leave, I have experiments to monitor."

"Don't worry, you'll be back at pretty much the same time you left."

"Or earlier."

They all turned to see duplicate copies of Barry and Elias standing in the doorway.

"My god!"

"Yes?"

Everyone looked to the cheeky goddess. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist."

"Madam, you can be sure I will never refer to you as anything other than a goddess." The future Elias smiled with another bow. "Your counterparts send their greetings and an invite to visit them at your convenience."

"Really?" She asked, her eyes lighting up. "Lord Death, could I impose?" She asked.

"Not a problem. We'll head back to the castle and head off from there."

* * *

When Aphrodite returned she had a very big smile on her face. Nobody bothered to ask her how it got there.

"Come My Goddess, I believe you have stories to tell!"

Ok, so nobody but Kyla.

"As long as you break Kal-El in soon. I can only wait so long until I take matters into my own hands!"

Clark's eyebrows rose and his face paled.

There was a gust of wind and he was gone.

"I'll work on it." Kyla sighed.

There was an impromptu dance of joy in the corner between Musubi, Yume, Matsu and Kazehana. Tsukiumi just rolled her eyes as Homura watched in amusement.


	41. Chapter 41

"Ok Clark, I realised that you have your abilities which can be used in most situations but you still need certain tools." Scott stated as he, Clark and Laura stood in the courtyard.

"I also have my hammer." Clark pointed out.

"Yes, but let's take a simple situation… well, complicated situation really. Imagine you find an individual trapped in a building with lots of leaking flammable liquids, much like Harvey Dent was. He is tied in such a way that if you accidentally cut or jar a wire he will explode.

"You can't use heat vision due to the fumes. You can't rip the ropes in case the wires break. So you need a new tool."

Scott held up a combat knife. "This is one of the most useful tools you will ever have."

***Snikt***

"Very useful. Especially on dates." Laura said with a smirk.

"You have never been on a date." Scott countered.

"Harry often takes me out!" Laura objected. "And when we get home these are great for removing those annoying clothes." She smirked.

Both males just sighed. Laura was by far the most mature and the quietest of the castle residents after Clark and Scott themselves. It was often clear where she got her sense of humour from though.

"Knives?" Clark asked Scott, deciding to ignore Laura.

"Knives." Scott repeated in the same tone. "Knives can be used as a precise cutting tool but can also be used as a precision projectile weapon in lieu of a gun. You have your heat vision but if someone manages to shield against it then you might be able to use a physical object instead.

"Our aim here is to teach you to not only fight with a knife but also to throw a knife."

* * *

Clark turned in for the night when he had managed to not only hit the bulls-eye every time but also managed to incorporate ricochets and arcs. He could easily bounce the knife off one surface to the bulls-eye at an angle therefore having two knives in the bulls-eye. He could also perform a similar feat by throwing the knife at an angle and allowing gravity to bring it down. It did lose a lot of power this way though.

His aim was good enough that Scott planned on having him work on high arcing trajectory that would enable Clark to throw the knife high enough so that it could reach terminal velocity before hitting the target.

He was very pleased with himself.

He opened the door to his bedroom expecting to see the bed crowded with Kyla and his Sekirei. More often than not Uzume seemed to join them, she just loved all the physical attention and Chiho was used to sleeping alone.

Today was a shock as the only person there was Kyla, dressed in a simple white gown.

"Where are the others?" Clark asked as he closed the door behind him.

"They are having a mass sleep over with the other girls." Kyla grinned.

"Can you really have a sleep over if you are in the same building?"

"It is what it is." She shrugged.

"Ok, so why aren't you with them?"

"You _know_ why Clark." She said firmly as she pushed the nightgown off her shoulders revealing her perfect naked form.

Clark was used to female flesh by now, even Kyla's. None of the girls wanted to wear anything to bed but they had to in case Ku came bursting in. She had been all but adopted by Martha and Jonathan. Ryan loved having a little sister.

The threat of Ku didn't stop them from walking around naked and changing in front of Clark.

"Is this because of Aphrodite?"

"Not just because of that. We all have desires, urges. We know you have them, hard to miss first thing in the morning." She smiled as she walked up to him.

"That doesn't mean that we have to give into them." Clark said seriously.

"You make it sound like this is something bad!" She said, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

It did very interesting things to her breasts and Clark winced as he felt his trousers tighten even more.

"I know you aren't gay. You definitely find us all attractive and that you at least love me… so what is the damned problem Clark?" She demanded.

"Its just-" Clark took a deep breath. "It feels like this is all part of destiny." He said as he moved to sit on the bed. "Aphrodite was hinting at it, so were Harry and the others. I don't like the idea of being controlled."

"Don't you remember anything you've been told?" Kyla asked as she sat on his lap. He put his arms around her to hold her in place. "Destiny and fate are not aspects. At best they are three old crones who wouldn't dare cross Harry and know better than to try and determine the destiny of those who belong to Death.

"When I was going through my Amazon training I learnt a lot about the gods and the fates. The fates don't really see all of the future they merely record the present. Occasionally there is a glimpse and they begin to weave ahead of what has happened to what will happen.

"The major thing to remember is that they cannot follow the fates of everyone. They aren't that powerful. Instead they will follow the fates of key individuals who can change the world."

"Like me."

"No, like I said, you are protected. But they might follow the Luthors." Kyla said dismissively. "Clark, the only people who want you to do this now are the people who love you… and who are really horny." She added as an after thought. "You have an entire harem of women who are literally begging for it, and each one truly loves you. It's not just about the sex Clark. Its about the closeness, the expression of love." She said as she placed one of his hands on her breast and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"All of us want to be as physically close to you as possible, so much so it can actually hurt." She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and began working his belt from her position on his lap. "There are plenty of men in the world and if it was just about sex we could find one of them. But its not. It's about love, our love for you. This is why Aphrodite is pushing us, she feels our love and her job is to nurture that love."

"What- what if I hurt you?" Clark asked worriedly.

Kyla frowned. "The first time is likely to be a little sore, I'm not sure if Sekirei have hymens but still, you will be putting something fairly large into something quite tight." She smiled with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Clark blushed. "No, I meant… I have super strength and speed… what if… I… break something?"

"Ah." She said in realisation. "First of all, I am an Amazon and the others are Sekirei, we are all more likely to do damage to a normal man. But that doesn't really matter. We are in a building filled with the world's most powerful healers. Not to mention we have all been taught healing magic as standard. If anyone's in danger its you… from a bunch of horny women."

She stood up and flipped him on to his back causing him to squawk as she pulled his jeans and boxers down in one swift move. She deftly removed his boots and socks before pulling his lower clothing off completely.

Before he could sit she leapt on top of him and pinned their naked bodies together.

"Do you love me Clark Kent?" She asked seriously.

"You know I do." Clark said sincerely.

"Then show me."

* * *

The following morning Clark walked down with a huge blush on his face whilst Kyla was grinning broadly. Nobody needed to guess why because…

"Clark, no one is happier than I am about what you and Kyla did last night." Harry said seriously. "Unfortunately I need you to not do it again for a few days."

There was the sound of many screeching chairs as several highly irritated Sekirei and one soul mate rose and glared at the Aspect.

"Hey, I'm sorry but you and Kyla literally moved the Earth! Amara and I spent most of the night trying to absorb the shock waves. I just need a few days to put some more charms on the castle."

There was a horrible growling sound that came from Matsu, and Tsukiumi.

"Emma… I'm going to need the day off." Harry said with a fearful gulp.

Harry spent the rest of the day working on the charms under the watchful eye of Clark's Sekirei and Miya's amused smile. She was enjoying watching her husband sweat, Dani returned at lunch to join her for a while with popcorn.

* * *

"So Clark, do anything _fun_ last night?" Chloe asked with a disgustingly huge smirk.

Clark glared at her. "Why don't you ask Kyla?"

"She'll tell me what she got up to, I want to know what _you_ got up to." She asked. It was just the two of them in the Torch office at the moment. Kyla, Lana and the Cuckoos were out distributing the paper.

Clark slowly turned and faced Chloe. "You want to know what I got up to? Ok." He said as he began walking slowly towards her, his voice low and steady. "Last night I spent most of my time connected to Kyla, my soul mate, in the most intimate of ways. All night long I heard her calling my name in ecstasy and begging for more. She's an Amazon and she still needed to heal herself from the soreness of the night's pleasures."

Clark was still walking towards her and she unconsciously backed up.

"From what I'm told I made the Earth move, not just for her, but for everyone. That's what I was up to last night, Chloe. You see, when Omoikane gave me the language and culture of the Japanese people, he also gave me lots of other bits of related information… including all the known techniques for pleasing a woman."

"What did _you_ get up to, Chloe?" He asked in a whisper.

Chloe squeaked as she realised she couldn't go back any further and Clark Kent was so far into her personal space they were pressed together.

"M-m-monitoring seismic tremors?"

"So it was good for you too." Clark nodded with a soft smile.

He then took a sharp step back and stood up straight as he took a deep breath and gave a wider smile. "See you in class Chlo."

As he walked out he nearly ignored the assembled group of Lana, Kyla, Chiho the Cuckoos and Dani. Although he did indulge the widely grinning Dani in a high-five… which meant she had to heal her broken hand… but it was worth it.

"You so got played." Dani laughed at the blushing blonde.

There was a snort from Lana's chest where Chiho had her face buried as she tried not to laugh.

"Let it out girl! Clark deserves it." Dani smiled.

Chiho lost it as she had to cling to Lana for support.

Chiho received many wary glances from the rest of the student body that day as she randomly burst out laughing.

* * *

Clark spent every night with at least one of the girls separately for a week. Yume and Musubi demanded they go together, Kyla had told him to adapt and sent them off.

Matsu nearly scared him back to Japan; she could be really creepy at times.

The weekend brought a new taste of American culture for the Japanese raised. The Lowell County Fair was running and everyone was going, the fair was merely an excuse to capitalise and profit from the meteor storm. Kusano and Jean were ecstatic and overly excited, they were frequently passed between the adults during the day.

There had been a few inappropriate moments from others when the men paid too much attention to one of the girls like Musubi or Kazehana, there were also a few incidents where Xander and Logan disappeared with certain members of the public who had some nasty things to say about foreigners.

Lana, Chloe, Kyla, Chiho and Uzume were spending their time together at the fair. Chiho had become good friends with the three girls and Uzume just loved spending time with Chiho.

Clark was enjoying being led around by Kusano and Jean, he made sure to spend some time with Ryan as well; he enjoyed teaching his adopted brother how to play the games. It was a bit much in the end and Ryan had to leave due to the press of voices in his head. Jonathan had planned an afternoon fishing with Earl so that Ryan could learn something new.

By the time they got home Clark was carrying a sleeping Kusano and seven year old Jean was barely on her own feet. Strangely Kyla, Chloe, and Lana were not back.

"There was a boy at the fair." Uzume explained. "He was clearly flirting with Kyla and Lana, he gave Chiho a prize even though she didn't win, another man didn't like it and attacked the boy, we stopped him but they went to the hospital to check on him."

"What was the prize?" Dani asked.

Chiho pulled out her prize of a snow globe and handed to Dani.

"Dani… Kryptonite!" Clark gasped as the green flakes affected him.

Dani quickly conjured a lead box and sealed it away. "These damned things are like cockroaches! They're everywhere!"

"I wonder how we missed that one though." Loki mused. "We caught most of the crap they were trying to sell, the whole fair was a farce, commercialising a tragic event. You don't see them doing that at the twin towers."

"They would if they could and not get lynched." Martha scoffed.

"Uzume, you will need to go with Amara tomorrow to track down the supplier of the snow globes, you know the stall so you can point them out." Harry instructed.

"Clark, Chiho, prepare an announcement in the paper tomorrow that we can have sent out to the local towns as well recalling the snow globes."

"Could someone get us a picture of it?" Clark asked.

"I'll handle that now." Dani offered as she stood up with the box.

Harry looked to the Cuckoos. "Girls, make sure the others know to keep an eye on Clark in case someone decides to bring them into school for whatever reason."

"It's a snow globe, why would they take it to school?" Lorna asked.

"If a teacher got one they may use it to decorate their desk." Harry pointed out.

"Wow, anyone who has room on their desk clearly isn't doing their job." She snorted.

"No Dear, they just have better organisational skills than you. Do we need to get you another assistant?" Emma asked.

* * *

The castle didn't really get much sleep that night. Clark and the Sekirei were up waiting for Kyla to come home. They tried calling but it appeared as though she had sent them to voicemail. Kazehana was fairly pissed at that and was about to stomp off and pound the girl for the insult with Tsukiumi hot on her tail, Yume and Clark managed to hold them back by suggesting that they see if the Cuckoos could contact her first.

Things got worse when the Cuckoos didn't get a response but they also discovered that Lana hadn't come home and Gabe called asking if Chloe was there.

A fairly pissed off Harry returned from checking on them and told everyone they were fine but were staying at the hospital to keep the victim from the fair company. Harry was not happy about being woken up and dragged from his bed and especially with the attitude the girls had given them. If he hadn't been so annoyed and grumpy he might have realised something was wrong.

* * *

Clark, Chiho and the Cuckoos were sitting on the wall outside the school the following morning waiting for the bell to ring and school to start. Then a scene occurred that was almost a repeat of what had happened to Clark two years prior.

"Chiho, I need to ask you a serious question."

"Yes Clark?"

"Should I be insanely jealous right now?"

"Yes Clark you should." Mindee growled from where her sisters where trying to keep her from going strangling Kyla, Chloe and Lana who were dressed fairly indecently and draped over Seth Nelson, the boy they were keeping company last night.

"Leave this to me girls."

Clark was instantly on his feet with wide eyes as he watched Aphrodite appear from nowhere and storm towards the girls.

"Oh crap… Cuckoos start redirecting everyone's attention. Chiho, can you contact Emma and ask her to do the same and then get Harry here?" Clark asked before he started jogging after the furious goddess.

"Aphrodite-"

"Stay out of this Kal, this is between me and that little rat bastard who dares mess with my Aspect and friends."

Clark grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her to face him. "Aphrodite! This is your realm and your responsibility, I won't interfere, all I ask is that you let Harry take you somewhere more private." He said as he indicated the currently oblivious students.

Aphrodite sighed. "Fine, you're right Kal-El."

"Hey now, can't we talk about this?" Seth asked as he held out a hand and grabbed Aphrodite's hand. "Why don't we just go somewhere quiet and talk, the two of us?" He asked as he looked into Aphrodite's eyes.

She just smirked. "Your little trick doesn't work on me, boy. You are lucky my Amazons are still pure or there would be no hope for you. I would see you suffer in the pits of Tartarus begging Lord Death to destroy your soul."

Seth dropped her hand as her hair started to blow in some unseen wind.

Their surroundings suddenly changed and they were standing in the Great Hall of the castle. Clark looked around and saw Harry give him a nod to let him know it was him.

With his immediate concern dealt with, Clark backed away and let Aphrodite handle it.

"Goddess, we love him. Isn't this what you want for us?" Lana pleaded.

"This isn't love, child. This is what Love hates the most. Manipulation, mind-control." Aphrodite explained kindly. "Trust your goddess in this."

The girls looked torn.

"Hey, I don't know who you are or how you got us here but these girls chose to be with me, what gives you the right-"

"THE RIGHT!" Aphrodite bellowed. "I AM THE GODDESS OF LOVE AND THESE ARE MY AMAZONS! YOU DARE QUESTION ME?!"

"And that is why you never mess with love." Harry said quietly so only Clark could hear him.

"Never planned on it really." Clark shrugged.

"There is more than one way to piss someone off, Clark. Not doing something is as bad as doing something at times."

"What do you mean?"

"Aphrodite was prepared to seduce you herself if you kept refusing to sleep with your girls." Harry said seriously. "You need to stop thinking about certain things like a human male and remember that you are a god."

"Lord Death, I request your assistance." Aphrodite requested formerly.

Harry straightened his shoulders and walked up to Aphrodite. "How may I serve you, My Lady?" He asked with a bow.

"My Lord, this one, how evil is he?" She asked carefully.

Harry waved a hand causing an upright table to appear and Seth was suddenly strapped to it and gagged.

The three girls looked very worried for Seth.

"He's a child with a powerful new toy. He's made some poor choices but nothing he can't come back from. He's not evil, he's just not good." Harry shrugged. "I'll see if I can't make a new body for him so he doesn't have those powers anymore."

"He has meddled in the affairs of Love. I won't demand his death, but he does need to learn a lesson."

"Of course." Harry nodded.

"Can you charm him so he remembers what has happened but cannot speak of it?"

"Easily done."

"Good, I will handle the rest of his punishment myself." Aphrodite smiled; it was not a nice smile. "Seth Nelson, you will be denied love for twenty years. Your relationships with people will be of a professional nature only; you will have no friends. If you have learned your lesson in twenty years then you will be allowed to love and find love."

Aphrodite vanished on the breeze.

"You really stepped in it kid." Harry sighed as he stepped up and started work.

"Are we really being controlled?" Kyla asked tearfully.

"Do you honestly love me?" Clark asked her as he stayed where he was, keeping his distance.

"I do… but… it feels like I love Seth too… but different."

"Harry, how long will this last or do you need to fix it?"

"Maybe a day or two." Harry answered without looking up.

"Come on, I'll have one of the magicals put you into a magical sleep so you can wait it off." Clark said.

* * *

Martha's birthday was coming up and Clark wanted to get her something nice. He had considered making her some diamond earrings but decided to spend the time to try and buy something. His first stop was a jewellery store in Smallville.

As was usually the case he didn't travel alone. His companions for the day were Kusano and a now ten-year-old Jean. Both were sworn to secrecy on what they were out doing though.

The two girls found the shops to be very exciting and Clark was continuously being dragged from item to item. Kusano pulled them over to a specific piece with a very serious face.

"Look, Clark, bad rocks." She informed him.

"Very bad." Clark said as he backed away, the radiation already affecting him. He pulled out his phone and dialled for Amara.

"These are just green crystals." The shopkeeper frowned.

"Those are Kryptonite. We're not allowed to have those. The government said so." Jean informed him.

"I can assure you that they are not Kryptonite. I wouldn't want to risk my licence and freedom over that." He said; he was insulted at the suggestion.

"Clark is allergic to them, he can tell." Jean retorted in that way only little children can. The Shopkeeper was hard pressed to respond to the argument made by the little redhead and her golden haired friend.

There was a sudden high-pitched sound that filled the room causing glass to break and everyone to buckle to their knees.

Being highly trained and experienced in pain, Clark was able to seek out the source of the noise, from his position crouched over Ku and Jean his hand moved in a single motion past his boot, snagging the knife he now kept there, it moved on swiftly in an upswing eventually releasing the knife as it went flying towards the teenage boy and his accomplice.

The scream suddenly became more human as the knife literally sliced through the boys shoulder and into the wall behind.

There was a moment's silence as everyone tried to figure out what had just happened.

***BANG***

Clark looked to the source and saw the owner holding a smoking shotgun and the accomplice on the ground bleeding and unconscious.

"Everybody take a seat on the floor and don't try to move. The ambulances will be here in a moment and they will make sure we are all fine." Clark stated as he took charge. "Sir, just leave the weapon on the counter, I'll unload it and make sure it's safe." Clark assured the now shaking shopkeeper.

There was a soft clatter as the gun rocked on the glass cabinet.

Clark checked to make sure Ku and Jean were ok before he moved over to the gun. He struggled through the pain of the kryptonite.

"G-g-good god! Y-y-y-you really are aff-f-f-fected." The shopkeeper stuttered nervously as he saw the veins in Clark's hand become more prominent and green. "Let me m-m-move them."

"Thanks." Clark gasped. He was soon able to take the gun and dismantle it. He kicked himself when he realised he should have dealt with the attacker's gun first, but it was soon in a similar state of disassembly on the counter.

Clark felt a little sick when he examined the two robbers; he assumed they were there to rob the place. The wounds on the man were wide spread but shallow, the distance between himself and the shotgun probably saved his life.

The boy's right arm was barely attached; Clark's knife had sliced neatly through the bone.

He surreptitiously broke the face of his watch.

"Clark, I'm right next to you, keep your head down so people can't see your lips moving, no one can hear us." He heard Harry's voice next to him.

"You can see the mess. This kid is going to lose his arm and I don't know how to explain how I managed to nearly amputate it with just a knife." Clark reported.

"I'll have to modify some memories. I'll make it so the knife is in his shoulder instead of the wall." Harry said.

Less than sixty seconds later the EMT's arrived with the sheriff and no one was aware that the knife now buried in the boys arm had been in the wall seconds earlier.

"Mr. Kent, why am I not surprised to find you in the middle of all this?" Sheriff Adams sighed.

"Perils of a small town?" Clark responded with a bit of a cheeky smile.

"Give me the short story, Mr. Kent." She said with a roll of her eyes.

"Myself, the other customers and the shopkeeper were going about our business when a high-pitched noise began to cripple us. I located the noise and managed to throw my knife at the boy who seemed to be emitting it. In the confusion afterwards the shopkeeper managed to get a shot off with the shotgun taking out the armed man.

"I then helped secure the weapons and checked on the two attackers."

"What do you mean the boy was emitting the noise?" She asked carefully.

"The gunman had his fingers in his ears but the boy was just standing there and his Adam's apple was clearly vibrating abnormally."

"I will see if we can't scramble up some noise cancellation devices for your office, Sheriff." Amara said as she walked up.

"Miss Aquilla, I didn't know Mr. Kent was in trouble already." The Sheriff commented with a raised eyebrow at the castle's resident lawyer.

"He's not… well, no more than what you see. He called because he found some jewellery in the store made with Kryptonite. He asked me to come and deal with the situation officially."

The Sheriff expelled an unhappy breath. "Mr. Kent, I'd appreciate if you would call me as well when you find these blasted rocks. If nothing else it will let me get a head start into finding the suppliers.

"Now if you will excuse me I have to go and have some strong words with Mr. Larson about the trustworthiness of his suppliers." She said as she marched off to the talk to the shopkeeper.

"Nice work Clark." Amara said approvingly. "You applied force and violence where needed. We've always been a little worried you wouldn't be able to handle something like this."

"I still called for Harry to heal them." Clark pointed out as he picked up Ku.

"As you should. We are warriors and soldiers Clark, not monsters."

* * *

Clark's usual routine for the evenings was to put Ku to bed early evening; occasionally Ryan would help. After that was done and his homework was finished he would head over to Metropolis to patrol the city for a bit. His Sekirei didn't usually get home from Japan until after midnight, and then the other teams would patrol at night.

If there was a specific problem in Tokyo that required his attention then he would forego patrolling Metropolis in favour of sorting the problem out.

Tonight was a prime example.

He arrived in Tokyo to find the Sekirei in their break room. Takami was standing there, scowling away. As soon as the Sekirei noticed him they all stood to attention, proudly lifting their heads high. This was unusual as normally the second he entered the room Matsu and Musubi were all over him as Tsukiumi tried to fight them off.

What really worried Clark was that Miya was standing with them. She was the leader, she conversed with himself and Takami as equals; but now she was standing as though she was awaiting inspection.

"Clark, good. We had an… incident today." Takami said, still unhappy.

"Did we declare war on someone?" Clark asked, he then winced as he realised he was channelling Harry's sense of humour again.

"Team One here, came across an Ashikabi and his Sekirei, they were tasked with finding certain numbers who have not reported in for a check up. This particular Sekirei seems to have been abused, Team One was… far from gentle."

Clark raised an eyebrow at the terse manner in which Takami spoke and the Sekirei stood.

"Miya, can you give me details?" Clark asked. He decided to maintain some formality here.

"We tracked the Sekirei and approached them. Number Two had managed to use CCTV cameras to follow them. They were trying to stay off the grid but were actively challenging other Sekirei and fighting them even though they declined. They terminated at least one Sekirei in the past week.

"When we approached the Sekirei and Ashikabi, the Ashikabi ordered his Sekirei to fight us. She refused but the Ashikabi began beating her, molesting her and eventually kissed her, all in the space of seconds.

"Number Nine took offence to these actions and severely beat the Ashikabi and held him under her water to the point of him passing out.

"We then called in for transport and brought them back here."

"Were there witnesses?" Clark asked with a frown.

"No, Number Two had hacked the traffic lights and caused diversions whilst Numbers Five, Six, Eight and Eighty-Eight provided a cordon."

Clark walked down the line of Sekirei, they were they had arranged themselves in order of their number. He stopped in front of Tsukiumi.

"Good job Tsukiumi." He said sincerely.

"You can't be serious!" Takami said in disbelief. "They nearly killed the man."

"Miya, at any point did Tsukiumi lose control of herself where she nearly killed the man?"

Miya hesitated. "I believe she came close to losing control."

Clark just nodded and smiled. "Excellent. You've come a long way Tsukiumi."

Tsukiumi blushed at the praise, but a small smile curled the edges of her mouth.

"Clark, they can't go about killing- attacking people like that!"

"This is why the Disciplinary Squad was set up Takami. To protect the Sekirei and the city. You should be glad Harry wasn't here, he would have outright gutted the man… it was a man right?" He asked Tsukiumi.

She nodded tightly.

"What will the Prime Minister say when he finds out?" Takami challenged.

"'Would you like us to kill him or imprison him?' I imagine." Clark smirked.

"This is a serious matter Clark."

"Yes, and serious actions were taken and will be taken still." Clark assured her. "None of us will tolerate abuse in any manner, this is pretty mild considering what Minaka is going through." He said, reminding her of the fate of the previous President of MBI.

"Look, send a report up the line. File the papers and have some one heal him if you think it's necessary. First and foremost you need to make sure the Sekirei is fine."

"I don't like this Clark." Takami scowled. "I don't like the Sekirei abusing people like this."

"Neither do I." There was a shift of every eye to Clark in surprise. "Do you know what I did today Takami? I threw a knife at a teenage boy and practically amputated his arm at the shoulder. I didn't like it but I had to do something.

"Tsukiumi, did you enjoy hurting the Ashikabi?"

Tsukiumi jolted slightly in surprise at being addressed and the question itself. "No! I- I was angry… I-"

"It's ok Tsukiumi, thank you." Clark said softly. "If it was Karasuba, Haihane or Benitsubasa I'd be all over them. But we know these Sekirei won't cross the line without reason or a really big push. Let them do their job Takami, better them than Harry, Xander or Logan."

Takami shuddered at that thought. Logan was a vicious bastard, she was aware that he had trained the First Generation Discipline Squad and she knew his techniques, Logan always laughed when she shouted at him and said that compared to Takehito, he was a pussycat.

"Fine, but if I get called before the Prime Minister or the Emperor… you're coming with me." She warned.

Clark just smiled and nodded.

"Miya, do you have a moment?" He asked the purple haired leader of the Sekirei.

"Of course Clark."

Clark led her silently to the balcony under the former clock tower. It was a lovely view and a great place for the squads to unwind, it was also useful as most of the squad members could actually make the jump from that height, their capes had been replaced with a similar model as to what Bruce used as Batman, they could expand outwards to act as gliders but also shortened so that they were not in the way.

"Miya, what was with you being… subservient in there?" Clark asked when they were finally alone.

"I stand with my Sekirei." She explained proudly.

"You can't." Clark said firmly. She went to argue but Clark stopped her. "You are beyond the Sekirei, you are a goddess. There are very few people in this company you don't outrank. Myself and Harry are two of them and even then we would expect you to stand up for your people."

"I know how to lead, Clark." Miya said tersely, she wasn't happy that someone at least a decade younger than her body was lecturing her.

"It's not about your leading Miya. It's about you being a goddess. You are a mortal bound goddess that means that you are bound to this world in this time and place, unlike Odin who exists out of our realm and can move through time and space.

"But you are still a goddess, you need to be aware that if you let mortals walk over you like Takami was about to do then the other deities will begin to get… agitated. They don't like it when mortals become disrespectful. Things could escalate to the point where Harry would have to step in."

"I refuse to treat others as inferior." She argued.

"You don't have to. Just don't let yourself be told off by someone who you out rank. They can bring concerns to Harry, myself or another god or goddess and if we agree with them then _we_ can argue with you, but mortals… they don't have that right."

"I do not understand Clark, I thought you hated things like this." She frowned. "Being placed above others and being in charge."

"Oh, I do." He nodded vehemently. "The thing is… after what happened between Takehito and Minaka, I learnt just how… fragile, the balance is between the mortals and the gods. Many of them would like nothing more than to take a firmer hand with mortals, to step in and be more pro-active. But that would take a lot of freedom away from mortals.

"You, the Guardians of Oa and myself have to make sure that when the circumstances call for it, we act like gods. If we don't then the gods of the other realms will get… antsy." Clark shrugged as he tried to find the right words.

"How do you know this if you are a mortal bound god?" Miya asked curiously.

"Because though he was born mortal, he was gifted with the divinity of an other world god." They turned to see Aphrodite walking towards them.

"I was?"

Aphrodite just laughed. "It is not as unusual as you might think Kal-El. My brother Hercules was born a mortal demi-god but ascended to full godhood. Not that it did him any good." She finished with a sneer.

"Am I considered a… 'lower' god?" Miya asked carefully.

Aphrodite frowned as she considered he words carefully. "In terms of power and ability you normally would be. There is a distinct difference between the two types of deities. However, you have, in your own way achieved those abilities and become an equal to those like Kal-El and myself.

"Allow me to explain." She said as she waved a hand and a couple of comfortable chairs appeared. "The true difference between the two types of gods is their immortality. The mortal bound gods can be killed and then they move on to the other side.

"The other types are immortal gods. We can be killed but we will be reborn again, eventually, with time we can become the same people we were before we were killed."

"So the Guardians will eventually die?" Clark asked.

"Only if someone kills them." Aphrodite said. "If they are left to live then they will never die, at least, not until this universe dies out in due course.

"The important thing to remember is that only the Aspects are truly immortal. Everything that lives within them can die, even gods and phoenixes, but not the Aspects themselves."

"Maybe I should take philosophy in college." Clark sighed as he rubbed his temple.

Miya smiled as she stood. "I believe Aphrodite has just pointed out that you have plenty of time to study any field you wish. Thank you both for your guidance."

She bowed low and both Aphrodite and Clark returned it before she smiled and walked back inside.

Clark turned to the pleased looking Aphrodite. "Would you like to go out for dinner with me?"

Just as the door closed to the balcony a bright smile lit up Miya's face, the other Sekirei and Takami looked at her curiously.

"Clark has finally asked Aphrodite out."

"I WON!"

Everyone jumped and looked at the now blushing Takami.

"I did." She said meekly.


	42. Chapter 42

Takami joined the Sekirei in Smallville for an impromptu celebration and to collect her winnings on the betting pool. It was Brunhilde that had pointed out that Aphrodite more often than not appeared to Clark. She came when others needed her or it was her duty but as Lana had confirmed, she was often there to give Clark advice. The five Smallville based Amazons couldn't be happier for their goddess.

Soon after Takami had returned home Bruce teleported into the castle, not an unusual occurrence during the day, but not something he did in his bat suit.

"This can't be good." Lorna commented as Bruce conjured a chair and pulled back his cowl.

"There's a fairly big problem in Gotham, a new super criminal has emerged going by the name 'Poison Ivy'. She has displayed strong control over plants to the point that she can make them grow at a mutated rate." Bruce explained.

"Goals and motives?" Laura asked.

"Eco-Terrorist. She appears to have bonded her genetics with plant DNA. From what I could deduce she is looking to eradicate mankind. I was hoping that Neville with his talents in plants or maybe even Kusano could help.

"You said Kusano has a connection to the Earth and the last thing I want to do is use poisons on the plant if they could also hurt people like Kusano."

"Your respect will earn you the favour of the gods Bruce Wayne."

Bruce and the others immediately stood as they heard the voice of Aphrodite in the room. She was standing there in an elegant red dress that fell to the floor; Clark was next to her looking dashing in a tuxedo.

"Relax my friends. I was just bringing Clark home after our date." She smiled happily.

Clark was desperately trying not to blush.

"You do realise we can't willingly let you leave without getting the details, my goddess?" Kyla grinned as she gave a small bow.

"Of course child. Let us retire to a more private location whilst Clark discusses the current Gotham crisis with the others."

"Astronomy tower?" Kyla asked the room.

They all nodded and the room was suddenly much emptier as the women teleported out.

All the women. Any magical seated next to a Sekirei grabbed them as well.

"That can't be good." Clark muttered as he looked in the direction of the tower.

"Clark, the Goddess of Love was smiling after you took her on a date." Neville smirked. "That should be classed as 'very' good."

"Not that, I'm talking about all the women up there talking about it."

"Fact of life Clark. Just be glad they didn't go straight to- oh… "

Clark's eyes widened in horror as Harry trailed off. "What?! Where did they go?!"

"Themiscyra." Harry said with a wince.

The others cringed.

"Oh god… I'm going to have a whole island of mystically empowered warrior women out for my blood."

"Only if you fail to ask her on a second date." Xander pointed out.

"He's right, she looked very happy when you arrived." Scott agreed. "Make sure you don't forget to follow up with a second date."

"That is, assuming you enjoyed the date yourself and wanted to continue the relationship." Bruce said cautiously.

All eyes turned to Clark expectantly.

"Of course I enjoyed it!" Clark snapped impatiently. "I know I can be slow when picking up on the signals regarding women but I was able to figure out Aphrodite wanted to… go out with me. I asked her because I wanted to as well… as soon as I realised I was… in her league, so to speak.

"The date was good, fun. I enjoyed it and I enjoy talking to her. It would be nice to talk to her in a more relaxed setting though, a high priced restaurant still makes me nervous."

"You already know what she likes Clark, she's mentioned it enough and you've seen her around enough." Harry pointed out.

"You could always just take her up to your room and get on with it." Logan said slightly impatiently.

"She's the Goddess of Love, not sex and lust!" Clark argued slightly defensive.

Xander just grinned at Logan. "Which is why she's dating him and not you."

* * *

Any plans for a second date were put on hold as Neville decided Clark could do with more exposure to super criminals… the smart ones at least.

Bruce was able to discover that Poison Ivy was formerly Doctor Pamela Lillian Isley, a scientist skilled in advanced biochemical botany. Her professor at university had experimented her on after he seduced her. She was left in a coma for six months before she awoke and began to display severe, almost bi-polar type behaviour.

She vanished for a few months before suddenly appearing in Gotham and declaring war on mankind.

"These plants are being naughty." Kusano frowned.

They had arrived in Gotham and headed straight for the nearest scene of 'plant based crime', as the police were calling it. They were standing outside Gotham City Hall, which was completely sealed off by giant plants that practically begged for a boy named Jack to chop them down with an axe. Ku had gone straight for the plants and gasped before she turned to Bruce, Clark and Neville and made her accusation.

"Why is that sweetie?" Neville asked as he knelt down in front of his littlest friend.

"They are saying bad words and doing bad things." She whispered conspiratorially.

"That's because someone is controlling them and teaching them bad things."

"Clark needs to teach them manners." She said resolutely.

Bruce looked at Clark with a raised eyebrow.

"She means that literally. She had a tendency to sit down without adjusting her dress, I had to teach her how to do it properly." Clark blushed, it wouldn't have been so bad if one of the girls had been there, he had taken her out for a walk and they sat down but her knickers were showing.

Bruce was suddenly very glad he wasn't in costume at the moment… the last thing he needed was people seeing Batman trying not to laugh.

"Why don't we try and find this person then so Clark and Uncle Bruce can start their lessons, ok?" Neville suggested with a smile.

Ku nodded with confidence. There was nothing her Ashikabi couldn't do.

"Can you ask the plants if the person controlling them would meet with us?" Clark asked Kusano.

Ku nodded happily and placed a hand on the large stalk that was sticking out of the ground outside city hall.

Kusano gasped. "You are a very bad tree!" She wagged a finger at the plant.

She turned to the others. "We need Shiina. He always deals with the bad plants." She said firmly.

"Is it that bad, Kusano?" Bruce asked with a frown. He was up to date on all the Sekirei and knew that Shiina was the counterpart to Kusano.

"They are very bad and want to hurt people."

"I'll head back to the castle, do you think you could try and track down Ivy whilst I'm gone?" Bruce asked Ku.

"My plants will find hers." She said adamantly.

The directions given by Kusano's own plants were roughly translated by the little girl into: 'Go that way'.

Seeing as it was first thing in the morning they had to find some place a little less conspicuous for Clark to change his costume and then to take flight.

Superman was absolutely disgusted when they realised where Ivy was hiding. The Arkham Botanical Gardens. The Gardens were on the very grounds of the Asylum, he would definitely be looking into how no one noticed or reported this.

"Harry and Bruce really need to do something about this." Superman said in frustration. "Do you know how many times Batman has had to capture the Joker since we first put him here? Three! And he's only been in there for about a year."

"Why hasn't he been executed?" Neville asked curiously.

"One of the corrupt judges of Gotham had him declared insane, so he's not eligible for the Death Penalty. The man isn't technically insane, he's just evil and sadistic."

"Are they coming to say hello?" Kusano asked curiously as she pointed to a large number of guards and prisoners storming out of the actual Asylum towards them, most of them were brandishing some sort of weapon.

"I don't think so, Kusano." Neville sighed.

"What the devil is going on here?" Batman demanded as he appeared with Shiina and Yukari.

"Did Uncle Bruce just swear?" Kusano asked with a frown.

"Just a little, we can deal with it later though, remember, he's Batman when he looks like that." Superman reminded her.

Shiina looked horrified that Ku was about to berate the famous Batman whilst Yukari had to turn away to hide her laughter.

"Everybody fly up." Neville ordered as he picked up Kusano.

Superman grabbed Shiina and took off whilst Yukari and Batman followed under their own power.

"I don't like using magic as Batman." Bruce grumbled.

"What were you going to do? Stand there and fight the entire mob?" Yukari demanded.

"Yukari! That's Batman!" Shiina pleaded with his Ashikabi.

"Shiina, it's Bruce in a costume. He is definitely not allowed to set a bad example in front of Ku." Yukari countered.

"Actually, I would have used stealth and knocked out the guards and prisoners one by one." Batman explained. "Of course I also wouldn't have landed in the middle of the asylum." He added with a glare at Neville and Superman.

"Can one of you call for Harry?" Superman requested, ignoring the grumpy bat.

A second later Harry appeared next to them.

A second later he landed on the floor from fifty feet up and was pummelled mercilessly by the mob.

"Is someone going to help him?" Shiina asked worriedly.

"He's fine, he'll be back-"

Neville was interrupted by the emergence of Harry's massive dragon form roaring angrily.

"See."

"And he is _not_ a god?" Shiina asked carefully.

"Shiina, all gods are inferior to Harry, and I tell you that _as_ a god." Superman smiled.

"Next time you call a person in, let them know you are flying!" Harry's dragon form complained grumpily.

"I'm so sorry!" Yukari blushed.

"I don't blame you, Yukari. You wouldn't have realised, but Mister Phoenix and the genius Bat over there should know better!" He glared at Neville and Batman.

"You threw me off a tower three times as high everyday for more than a year… deal with it." Superman smirked. "Now, can you put the mob to sleep so we can get to work?"

"Fine, but you might want to leave the area, you know I'll wind up putting you all to sleep as well." Dragon Harry warned.

Neville vanished with Ku along with Yukari and Batman.

Nobody thought to bring Superman who was holding Shiina.

"A little help please Harry." Superman sighed.

Dragon Harry just chuckled as he made the pair vanish.

Down at his feet the various, and obviously mind-controlled members of the mob were smashing and hacking away at Harry's dragon leg ineffectually.

"Would you lot just take a nap!"

There was a fairly loud thud as more than two hundred people dropped to the floor unconscious.

"That's going to take some sorting out." Yukari muttered as they all reappeared. Batman had remembered to bring Shiina and Superman this time.

"How about Manuel?" Superman suggested.

"I'll see if he's up for it." Harry nodded. "I still need to get back to work. It's a good job you're a genius Clark, what with all the classes you keep missing."

"You're lucky _I_ wasn't in a lecture!" Yukari pointed out.

"I'll leave you to it whilst I get Manuel." Harry said before teleporting out.

"This is your territory Batman, how do you want to do this?" Superman asked the Dark Knight.

"I will go in alone and attempt to reason with or disable Poison Ivy. If I fail I will call for help." Batman said after a moment's thought.

"Try not to do any thing rash." Superman called after Batman.

"I'm not the one with eight girlfriends whilst trying to woo the Goddess of Love." Batman's voice floated back as he vanished.

Superman just glared at the shadows.

"He forgot the fact that one of your girlfriends is trying to set you up-"

"Leave it alone Neville." Superman sighed.

Neville just chuckled.

An impressed whistle sounded behind them. "You certainly no how to make a mess amigo."

"Well, in fairness, I didn't let them out, I just stopped them from getting any further." Harry explained to Manuel as they walked towards the others.

"I can do the job but I'll need to read up on their systems before I do. That way my dupes will know what I know." Manuel told them.

"Clark, you've been here before, can you show him around?"

"Sure. Ku, stay with Neville ok?"

"Ok."

"Great, I need to get back to Smallville before Dani attempts to seduce Felice again."

* * *

Batman made his way through the botanical gardens making sure to avoid touching any plants. They didn't have eyes or ears but they could probably react to sound and touch. Some plants where known to respond to sound and touch, and of course… light.

He was a little disappointed that he had to make use of some of the gadgets he carried like the Bat-Claw; a grappling hook fired from a gas-powered gun. Unfortunately it was the only way to accomplish this without magic, he much preferred to achieve his goals using nothing but his wits and physique.

Aside from Harry's advice not to use Magic to actively combat criminals, Batman personally believed that magic was something that Bruce Wayne could do, not the Batman. If worst came to worse it would be his ace in the hole.

Most of the garden was made up of corridors of over grown concrete planters. It had been decades since the place had been properly kept. In the centre of the building was a large indoor area with glass ceilings, a place where trees where meant to grow.

This is where he found Ivy, seated on a throne made of vines as she stroked a black rose that grew next to her.

"So the Batman has come. Such a shame you didn't bring Superman with you." She pouted. "Now he is a sight for sore eyes."

"You know why I'm here Ivy." The Batman said in his deep gravelly voice.

"You want me to let the humans destroy the world, destroy my friends, my family." She said dismissively. She stood and walked down the vine steps of her throne, she was dressed in nothing but a few well placed leaves over her green skin as her red hair flowed down her back.

"I want you to stop threatening people. You haven't killed anyone yet; you haven't crossed that line. You still have a chance."

"Tell me Batman, have the humans stopped killing my plants?" She asked as she stalked towards him seductively. "No? Then I will not stop what I have started, and believe me, there will be dead humans. For every plant they kill, one of them shall die until they are all gone… and then this world will be a paradise again."

"Why not work with the humans, there are others out there who are like you."

Ivy spun on him angrily. "There is _no one_ like me!"

"You're wrong. Not only are there people like you, there are people far more powerful than you. They don't like what you are trying to do and they will stop you… unlike me, they have no qualms about killing." Batman warned.

"I have the entirety of Mother Nature at my beck and call, no one can stand against my powers." She said dismissively. "I will allow you to leave, take a message back to your human leaders, they can surrender or they can die."

Batman shook his head in disappointment.

"You are a weed."

Both Batman and Ivy spun to see a woman in her mid-twenties with dark brown, almost black hair flowing to her waist. She was dressed in a white gown that was almost sheer. She was astoundingly beautiful with a wreath of flowers on her crown. She stood there regally, her face impassive.

"How dare you! You come to my throne room and dare insult me!" Ivy hissed angrily.

The woman ignored Ivy and turned to Batman.

"Please call in your friends Dark Knight. Kal-El will recognise me." She requested.

"How dare you ignore me!" Ivy screeched as she stomped towards the woman but her plants blocked her path causing a distraction.

Batman frowned but pulled out a communicator, it was one of the ones Harry had procured from the Avengers to enable Clark to communicate with others in the field.

"Superman, come in. This is Batman."

There was a pause before the response came through.

"_Go ahead Batman."_

"I am at an impasse with Poison Ivy. A new player has arrived and has requested your presence. She used your name: Kal-El."

There was a longer pause before the Superman, Neville, Kusano, Shiina and Yukari appeared next to Bruce.

Superman's eyebrow rose and he inclined his head. "Goddess." He said respectfully.

"Lord Kal-El, greetings, I am Gaia."

"Lady Gaia, allow me to introduce Neville Longbottom, Yukari Sahashi, Shiina and Kusano, you've already met Batman."

Gaia smiled. "I have and I know your true natures and am honoured to meet you."

"How may we help you?" Neville asked politely.

"No My Lord, I have come to lend my aid. This child-"

"CHILD?!"

"-had the potential to be the face of the Earth, but the manner in which she acquired her current state was fraught with the misdeeds of men. They have affected her mind. Instead I have chosen another." She said with a fond look at Kusano.

Superman stiffened slightly.

Gaia noticed this and looked horrified at the mistake. "No, no! I do not mean to take or burden the child, merely that as she grows in wisdom she will find the crown of the May Queen waiting for her if she desires it. With yourselves as her teachers and guides there can really be no other." She said as though it were obvious.

"_I_ am the May Queen! You are nothing but a fraud!" Ivy screamed angrily.

"Neville, would you… ?" Superman requested with a wince at the screaming harpy.

There was a flash of red light and Poison Ivy fell to the floor unconscious.

"Do you have any suggestions as to handle the lady?" Superman asked respectfully.

Gaia shook her head sadly. "No, she is misguided and fuelled by rage at what was done to her and the damage it caused her mind. Lord Death is her best hope with his gift of healing."

"Without a clean sample of DNA he may not be able to remove the plant matter and powers." Superman warned.

"Before she became like this she was a sweet young woman, worthy of the title of May Queen. If Lord Death can heal her mind she will be a good handmaiden for Kusano as May Queen."

"We will do all we can." Neville said with a respectful incline of his head.

"Thank you. Before I go, there is another who knew Pamela Isley at university. He is a good man who has been horrifically altered for a human. He is connected to The Green and would be a wonderful knight for the court of the May Queen. He, unlike Pamela, was not affected mentally, other than the depression caused by his forced separation from humanity."

"Can you tell us where he is, My Lady?" Batman asked respectfully.

"The Louisiana Swamps. He is made of plant life now, his body destroyed, again, his only hope may be Lord Death."

"Do you have any recommendations on how to deal with these plants? They seem to be quite dangerous." Neville noted.

"They are rogues, like weeds. Kusano is only one half of the puzzle, the one who plants and nurtures. Shiina is the pruner." Gaia said as she faded out of view.

Everyone turned to a very nervous looking Shiina.

"You can do it Shiina!" Ku said enthusiastically.

"I don't know Ku, the plants here are easy enough, but what about the rest of them. We saw the news reports, they are all over the place."

"You could use your Norito." Yukari offered.

Superman suppressed a small smile as he recalled Harry's revelation regarding the Noritos being made up.

"I can try." Shiina said, still uncertain.

"Pucker up handsome!" Yukari grinned as she leaned in.

Shiina's wings lit up the room and he placed his hands on the largest stalk before incanting. "By the corpse of my pact, may my Ashikabi's perils wither!"

A huge wind blew up as the plants immediately began to wither, the dust was everywhere and Neville quickly cast the bubblehead charm on all of them.

It was nearly two minutes later when it all finished and the plants were nothing more than dust.

Shiina dropped to the floor unconscious with exhaustion.

"Did it work?" Superman asked as he picked the boy up with Yukari stroking his hair proudly but with some concern.

"I'll check." Neville offered as he teleported out.

"It worked." Batman said with a grimace. "It worked too well. He eradicated every plant in the city. Alfred is telling me that the manor grounds are like a wasteland. He isn't happy about his gardens."

"Kiss me Clark! I can make them grow!" Kusano jumped on the spot happily.

"You just want to play kissy-face, don't you Ku." Yukari teased.

"I normally would say let nature take its course." Neville spoke up as he reappeared and took Shiina from Superman's arms. "But Gotham is quite literally barren, that won't be good at all for the world."

"Alright Ku, come on then." Superman smiled as he knelt down in front of his littlest and youngest Sekirei.

Kusano bounced forward as she clasped her hands behind her back and gave her Ashikabi a sweet closed mouth kiss that had Yukari cooing and even Batman had a slight smile at the scene.

As Kusano's wings faded she placed both hands on the ground, closed her eyes and concentrated.

All around them the plants sprang to life, flowers grew and bloomed in seconds, trees grew from nearly nothing to strong trees, years old.

After a few minutes Kusano collapsed into Superman's waiting arms fast asleep.

"Alfred reports that his garden is once again flourishing and has invited you all over for dinner." Batman said dryly.

* * *

Poison Ivy was placed in a detention cell in the dungeon whilst Harry worked on her. Eventually Jean would take over counselling once Harry had repaired all he could. He didn't have access to any clean DNA belonging to Pamela Isley so creating a new body was out of the question.

Clark took Shiina out on patrol in Metropolis so he could compare it with Tokyo. Yukari was enjoying a sleep over with the rest of women and girls in the castle.

They were all in Clark and his girl's room, which meant that Clark would be relegated to a spare room or the common room couch.

"Ok, this is really beginning to bug me… _why_ is there a TV on the ceiling?" Yukari asked.

"Because my breasts are too big!" Musubi whined pitifully.

The others just laughed.

Eventually their mirth subsided and Kazehana took up the explanation. "Whilst some men prefer large breasts on a woman, they do come with more drawbacks than limited clothing options, gawking and bad backs. The only way I can see my toes is moving my breasts to the side or sticking my feet in the air." She chuckled.

"Wow… I never thought of that." Yukari giggled. "And to think, I was always jealous of women with bigger breasts."

"It is nice to be admired, but at the same time they can draw too much attention." Emma added.

All the girls were in pyjamas, nightgowns and in the case of Emma, Musubi, Uzume and Yume… nothing.

"How big will my breasts be?" Jean asked curiously.

"Somewhere between Yume and myself dear." Emma answered.

"And me? How big will I be?" Kusano asked excitedly.

"You will be a surprise sweetheart." Emma smiled. "Jean was an adult before so we know what she will look like. This will be your first time being an adult so we will have to wait and see."

"I think she will be a perfectly proportioned woman." Kyla said as she looked at Kusano with smile and a wink.

"What is the definition of a perfect woman?" Chloe countered.

"Whatever Clark likes." Kyla retorted with a smirk.


	43. Chapter 43

Things actually calmed down for a while, Christmas passed without incident but with more people actually making sure they had the free time on Christmas to deliver presents to the kids. Many of the townspeople had specifically asked if Harry intended to do the same thing again, he had confirmed it.

Jean reached the point where she remembered who she was. She wouldn't be attending the school with the others as many of the students remembered her as one of the Doctors who subbed for Harry at the school. She would be considered the daughter of Jean Grey for the time being. She would continue working at the Castle with people like Poison Ivy and Mob Rule (Manuel) with the possibility of attending college with them later.

Although nothing cropped up to cause problems that didn't mean the castle residents were sitting idly by. Superman still patrolled Metropolis and stepped in to aide victims of major catastrophes around the world. Clark also spent plenty of time in Tokyo working with MBI to make sure he new the ins and outs of the company.

The Japanese government spent quite a bit of time keeping the American government at bay from Harry and his family. But they were worried the American's would try something drastic... eventually.

Chloe was still a reporter at heart. She was a loyal Amazon who loved her sisters and longed to go back to Themiscyra, but the ink still ran thick in her veins.

When you combine the fact that Helen Bryce and Tess Mercer where both family to her with the fact that she was like a dog with a bone when it came to a story, you ended up with someone who would never stop until justice was served.

In this case justice meant Lex Luthor being exposed for the fraud he was and Lionel Luthor for the murderer he was. She kept the whole thing private, working with aliases and phoney accounts. Every lead she turned up that meant nothing to her cause was another tip to the police or FBI, occasionally Homeland Security or CIA.

She had no illusions that she was working without Harry or his family suspecting something but she knew they would only step in if she went too far or got in over her head. She was working very hard to second-guess herself when something seemed too irresponsible or detrimental to someone who didn't deserve it. She refused to put someone through the sort thing she put Clark through.

The problem was keeping it from her Amazon sisters in Smallville. She spent nearly every day with Kyla and Lana and the guilt was eating at her. She wasn't doing it out of selfishness but because she didn't want them getting in trouble if she got caught. She figured they would tear her a new one when they found out but she would accept it over getting them hurt or killed.

A problem for all the Smallville Amazons was the desire to return to Themiscyra. Kyla still had a few more years before her probation was up and the younger version of her self would have caught up with her older self enough to go back in time.

Thinking about it gave her a headache and Harry frequently told them to _not_ think about it until they were twenty-one and could drink. He wasn't clear on the 'why', but Clark would just nod in clear agreement with an almost haunted look in his eyes.

The others had about nine months before they could go back.

Clark decided to forego what would be considered a proper date with Aphrodite in favour of spending time with her alone. They would often just work the farm together or take walks in the nearby forests. Occasionally Aphrodite would take them some place she liked.

There was a lot of talking and laughing between them, she wasn't sleeping with them but she often spent a lot of time with Kyla and his Sekirei.

* * *

Chloe was often working late into the evening when only the janitors were at the school. It was when she did her best work, it also helped that the school had some of the best computer systems in the state thanks to Harry and his family funding the school.

Smallville High was actually the most well equipped school in the country; the only difference between it and the most prestigious schools was a lack of snobbery.

It had been a long day, a Monday of all days and Chloe had finally called it a night, she had shut down the system, packed up her stuff and headed out to her car. She only drove for appearances sake these days, nothing beat teleportation, though she did love her blue car.

She reached her car and looked up at the screech of tires as a pair of headlights tore into the parking lot. Even through the glare she was able to make out the Kent's Dodge truck.

She wasn't expecting Clark and she definitely wasn't looking to be run over by him. The truck hurtled towards her without pause and instinct kicked in as she teleported out of the way leaving the truck to plough mercilessly into her beloved blue car.

Chloe reappeared several feet away only to witness the utter destruction of her car as the hardy work vehicle ripped through it.

When the truck stopped she saw Clark sitting inside the truck shaking his head.

"Clark! What the hell was that?" Chloe demanded as she ripped the door open with her Amazon strength.

"Chloe? Where am I? What happened?" Clark asked completely bewildered.

"You don't know?" Chloe asked.

Clark was about to answer when the Sheriff's car sped into the parking lot with lights on and sirens blaring.

"Have you called the others?" Clark asked quietly.

"Yeah, the Cuckoos have linked us all telepathically.

"_Hi Clark!"_ Came the happy chorus from Kusano and Musubi.

"_Later girls, we need to focus here."_ Chloe answered, she loved watching Clark squirm, but he had gotten used to his new role in their lives and he was slowly beginning to accept it.

"Mr. Kent, Miss Sullivan. I don't know why I don't just have a deputy tail you two at all times. Most of my call outs involve you two." Sheriff Adams sighed as she walked up.

"Now I know that isn't true." Chloe smirked.

"Allow me my hyperbole Miss Sullivan." She requested with a glare at the young reporter. "Care to explain why you were speeding through Smallville at over 70 miles per hour only to destroy Miss Sullivan's car?"

"I did?" Clark asked in surprise.

"Yes, you did!" Chloe said testily, she may prefer teleporting but that car was cute, a gift from her father. "You nearly killed me too!"

"I did?" Clark repeated.

"Don't you remember?"

"I- I remember working on the farm, I got an email on my phone and then… I was here." Clark scowled as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Sheriff, can I call Doctor Potter down here, I want him to check me, I don't like not remembering stuff."

"I'm sure Miss Sullivan can handle that. Whilst she does I have a few tests to run myself." She said as she held up a breathalyser.

* * *

"Hypnotism wouldn't work on you." Chiho commented as the group of friends packed up their bags in the Torch and headed to their next class.

"She's right." Phoebe nodded.

"Your mind is too strong for the subtleties of hypnosis." Mindee added.

"But mind control and brainwashing are another kettle of fish." Celeste said pointedly.

Lana pulled out her phone as she received an email.

"Mind control I can understand, but wouldn't brainwashing take several weeks to- whoa!" Chloe's hand shot up instinctually to block the right-hand chop to the throat from Lana. "This really isn't the time to spar!"

Lana didn't respond except to kick out at Chloe forcing her to lean back and then jump down the stairs they were standing on.

"A little help here!"

"On it!" Clark called as he grabbed Lana from behind.

Being an Amazon she was much stronger than a normal human, but nowhere near as strong as Clark. She struggled feebly in Clark's arms.

"Get out of the way people!" Kyla demanded at the gawkers as she and the others cleared a path for Clark to carry Lana to Harry's office.

"You heard Miss Willowbrook, you have classes." Came Emma's voice. "Now move along before half the school is issued a tardy."

The students reluctantly moved on as Clark carried Lana and Chloe followed with Emma. The others headed off to class to at least take notes. Lana was still struggling to get at Chloe, even though she was behind them.

"Whoa! What's got her in a tizzy?" Harry exclaimed as the group entered his office. Diana and Dani were both there.

"She just started attacking me out of the blue." Chloe said worriedly.

"Ok… Chloe, come with me. Emma, take Clark's knife out of his boot and put it on my desk." Harry instructed as he led Chloe into Dani's office.

Seconds later Chloe walked back out alone.

"Ok Clark, let her go, let's see what happens."

Clark instinctively knew what was going on. He knew that wasn't Chloe, so he released Lana who immediately grabbed Clark's knife and jammed it into 'Chloe's' heart.

Lana stepped back and shook her head to clear it. She glanced around and saw 'Chloe' standing there and the panicking began.

"Oh god Chloe!" She stepped forward and began pouring magic into the wound.

"Easy Lana, it's me, Harry." 'Chloe' said.

'Chloe' morphed fluidly into Harry.

There was a tearing sound and both Dani and Diana who were behind Harry burst into laughter.

"I always forget to change my clothes back before I morph into a bigger form." Harry muttered as he transfigured his clothing back from Chloe's clothes to his own, Dani and Diana were still laughing having seen Harry's butt over flowing from Chloe's underwear.

"How did you know what Chloe's undergarments looked like?" Diana asked through chuckles.

Harry just shrugged. "I don't, I just used a combination duplicating, switching and transfiguring charm to make my clothes mimic whatever Chloe is wearing."

"Can I come out now?" Chloe's muffled voice sounded through the door.

Dani opened the door released Chloe from her safe room.

"You mimicked my underwear?" Chloe asked with the patented feminine raised eyebrow of doom.

"Not intentionally… it's not like I looked!" Harry said defensively. "Not only have I done this to you before but I also had _all_ your bits before." Harry said pointedly.

"Really not helping your case sweetie." Dani laughed as Chloe looked more and more… peeved.

"So Lana and I both tried to kill Chloe." Clark spoke up quickly, trying to stay on safer territory.

"Yes! Can we please focus on that?" Lana said quickly, still freaked out. "What happened, one minute I'm checking an email and the next I'm looking at Chloe with a knife in her heart."

"Email?" Chloe perked up. "The last thing Clark remembered was checking an email."

"Can I see it?" Harry asked.

"Can we let the most powerful being in existence be exposed to something that might make him kill me?" Chloe asked sarcastically. "Hell no!"

"You did just say I was the most power-"

"You really want to take that chance?" Lana asked worriedly. "You might not be affected… but what if you are? Who could stop you?"

"Hear that Harry? You got the beat down with logic." Dani smirked as she walked over. "Let me see it, most of you can counter my powers."

Dani took the phone from Lana and scrolled to the last opened email.

"Does anyone know someone with the handle 'Brainwave'?" She asked.

There was a moment of group head shaking.

"The email is empty but the time and date stamp matches for when Lana went psycho." Dani informed them.

"Diana, could you take this to Brunhilde and ask her to try and track down this 'Brainwave'?" Emma requested of the princess.

"Of course." She said as she stepped up and took the phone from Dani.

"Better take mine as well, can you ask Brunhilde to keep track of my emails, especially work related ones. Takami sometimes likes to throw problems at me." He said with a hint of a grumble.

Diana laughed. "You sound like a true leader. My mother would complain about similar things."

"Shouldn't Chloe go with her and lock herself in a room at the castle?" Lana queried.

"Hey! Amazons don't hide!" Chloe said slightly insulted.

"No, but they do take up strategic positions in fortified locations." Diana said; it was clear the princess was speaking.

Chloe realised this and bowed. "Of course your highness."

"Go straight to the Queen, she is expecting you. Themiscyra does not use computers so you will not be at risk there." Diana instructed.

Chloe nodded and teleported out.

"Unless one of us gets an email and teleports to her." Dani pointed out.

"The logical solution is to not use our emails until we get this sorted." Emma countered.

"You can be the one to tell Loki that." Harry scoffed.

* * *

Loki had nearly thrown a fit that would have put Hippolyta to shame. She relied on email to handle correspondence with contacts for Amara.

Emma had just stood there in the common room, patiently waiting.

"Are you finished?" She asked when Loki seemed to have ranted herself out.

Loki straightened her business suit, cleared all expression from her face and looked Emma squarely in the face. "Yes, I believe I am."

"Good, because I had all your emails forwarded to MBI where they will be checking them and sending them onto you. That way if someone does send you a malicious email, a non-powered human will be all we have to deal with."

"Who did you convince to do that?" Loki asked curiously.

"Yukari. She took the day off from college and had Harry seal her magic."

"What about Shiina?"

"He's spending the day with Kusano so he is out of the way. He knows the situation and as long we protect Yukari we should be fine."

"Found them!"

The two women turned to see Brunhilde dragging an attractive brunette through the door.

"Meet Brainwave." She smirked.

"That was quick." Emma remarked.

"Yes, well… she is quite adept for her age and this time period, but I have far more experience in this field. Bruce and Lucius also offered their help. Combine that with Jean using Cerebro and we have this situation nipped in the bud quite efficiently." She nodded, satisfied with her work.

"You silenced her?" Loki queried as she saw the woman's mouth moving but no sound issued forth.

"She has quite the dirty little mouth." Brunhilde remarked glibly. "I will throw her in the dungeons for Jean to deal with. Somebody needs to let Chloe know she can return."

* * *

"So, Miss Sullivan, why is someone trying to kill you?" Harry asked with a smirk. They were all seated in the castle common room after school.

Neither Lana nor Chloe were happy when as a cover, they had been issued detentions for fighting. The official gossip was that Chloe had said something about Lana's weight and Lana took offence. Both girls were now officially pissed at whoever started that rumour. Harry received to kicks between the legs and the girls decided to call it even.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I know you know what I've been doing, let's not play games."

Harry sighed. "Chloe, we know you've been some pretty dodgy investigation and we've been watching your back but we haven't been digging into what you were investigating. You've come a long way from the impetuous little girl we met when we first got here."

Chloe smiled softly in pride. She had worked hard to temper her invasive ways.

"I don't want to talk about what I am doing yet. It's just something I want to do on my own for now." Chloe said firmly.

"We can accept that-"

"I can't!" Lana interrupted angrily. "I'm sorry, but the second I became used as a tool to kill one of my best friend and sisters I became a part of this. I know Chloe isn't doing anything we wouldn't approve of but I won't sit back and wait for the next time someone wants to use me to kill family… or anyone else for that matter."

Amara nodded in agreement. "As your Queen I would have to agree. We trust you and believe you had no intention of involving Amazons in this, but whether willing or unwilling, knowing or unknowing, you involved one of my charges. It makes it my responsibility as well."

Chloe nodded sadly. She would have accepted Lana's argument regardless, but the word of the Queen was final for an Amazon.

Chloe turned to Tess and Helen, her two Amazon sisters. "I've been searching for information to prove Lex Luthor is a clone and that Lionel killed his son. I haven't found anything but I have stumbled across other dirty secrets and forwarded them to the right agencies.

"I just wanted to give you and Lex some justice." She said pleading with them to understand.

"Thank you Chloe." Helen said tearfully as Tess pulled her into a hug.

"Yes, thank you." Tess agreed.

"Admirable goals, which we approve of, but I trust you understand now why none of us works alone?" Emma asked.

"Didn't Brunhilde capture Brainwave on her own?" Kyla asked cheekily.

"Absolutely not!" Brunhilde said with a smile but mock defensively. "I had remote backup from both Batman and Lucius Fox. In the event I needed aide Batman would have arrived or called in reinforcements."

"I think we can leave this investigation to Chloe. But we will want updates on what you find before you send them to the agencies." Laura warned.

"I can do that. And thank you."

"But also take someone with you when you go out and investigate. Preferably one of the older castle residents." Tess added. "We Amazons here are trained but not experienced."

* * *

After several months of work, almost a year, the ship that would carry Virgil Swann and Cyrus Crupp to the remains of Krypton was ready.

The design of the ship was a simple shuttle just like the Americans used. This ship had completely retractable wings to allow for more streamlined rocket shape if necessary. It was also three times bigger than the American shuttles.

Virgil and Cyrus would be sitting on this thing for months, at least that's what the public of Earth would think. In reality they would switch out every few days with one of Manuel's dupes so they could take a day or two off.

The Faster Than Light drive was as simple as Brunhilde could make it. It was one of the first that humans managed to build without cannibalising alien tech back in her home universe. This also meant that both Cyrus and Virgil were able to learn how to fix and use it to good degree.

Part of the reason the ship was so big was that it contained a number of satellites and automated robots that they would deposit at various locations, like the moon.

These weren't simple research robots that took samples and analysed them, no. These were heavy-duty machines that would use the resources found at the location to build structures capable of holding humans.

They were taking the first steps to colonising planets.

Instead of attempting to launch an aircraft larger than anything Earth currently had in secret Harry had decided to piss off the American governments a little bit more… he went public.

Just as with the disposal of North Korea's weapons, the international press was invited to witness and record the momentous occasion. Specific dignitaries were invited; specifically the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Prime Minister and of course Princess Diana of Themiscyra, Amara was a guarded secret.

Virgil's official position on the ship was that of science officer whilst Cyrus was the engineer. Diana herself would be leading the mission as the captain. The rest of the crew was made up of Japanese and North Korean experts in the fields of flying unusual aircraft.

Virgil had insisted that his involvement be kept low-key, further payback for what the American government was trying to do to super heroes.

Harry had just given Virgil and Cyrus North Korean citizenships.

Once again the known heroes where present. Flash and Green Lantern decided not to talk this time, even though they were now gaping at the sight of Aphrodite hanging off Superman's right arm. Hearing the Bat growling behind them made them straighten up.

Aphrodite was the public girlfriend of Superman. People only knew the name Aphrodite and assumed her parents were… weird for naming her such. Nobody could find any information about her, just like Superman and the other heroes.

Kyla was the public girlfriend of Clark Kent. Something that the others all pouted over still.

Superman stood and made his way to the podium. He was the spokes person for this event, Harry had told him it was time for him to speak to the world.

Yukari had smirked at him and reminded him that she had the first ever Superman autograph.

"_Ladies and gentlemen."_ Superman addressed the world in perfect Japanese, which by 'happy coincidence' meant that America had to wait for translations like most of the world. _"Many of you have seen me on the television or flying through the skies. Some of you have met me in person, though even fewer of you have met me when I wasn't needed to help another._

"_I arrived on this planet years ago as a child of maybe three years old. I was an orphan sent to this planet in the hopes that someone would find me and take care of me. My parents sacrificed their own chances of survival to ensure mine._

"_You see my birth planet was literally destroyed. It does not exist anymore as it exploded. Why? We do not know. My friends here in North Korea, Japan and Themiscyra have worked together to build this amazing feat of technology behind me. A select few will be making a journey that would take the both the Russian and American space agencies centuries to make; they will do it in months._

"_A new form of Faster Than Light or FTL drive has been developed and whilst I remain here on Earth to ensure the safety of what has become my home, my friends will go in my stead to investigate what happened to my birth planet… Krypton._

This was a huge deal, they had given the name of the planet and there would be mere seconds before the geniuses of the world put the registered name of the meteor rocks and the name of Superman's birth planet together to figure out the connection.

Then they would realise that Danielle Moonstar, who registered the name, also has a connection to Superman.

"_Earth is my home. I was sent here to survive, to live, and I was found by a loving couple that took me in and raised me as their son. They taught me right from wrong, they taught me justice, they taught me to become the man I am today._

"_However, searching for an answer about what happened to Krypton is not the sole goal of this mission. The crew will be landing on the moon to establish a simple base that future explorers and scientists can use. They will also be seeding the route they take with satellites and communication buoys. Finally, they will be planting mechanised robots on various planets that will build research stations that can tell us more about the universe we live in._

"_The intergalactic peace force known as the Green Lanterns have offered to monitor our ship and render aid if necessary, but we all hope that they will not need it."_

The castle residents along with Chloe were seated in the audience, no one would recognise them due to various charms. Chloe was there officially as an intern for the Daily Planet, she wouldn't be writing the story for the Planet but she would be able to use the opportunity to write something for the Torch and town newspaper.

"My Japanese still sucks." Kyla groused quietly.

"Then cast the translation charm." Lana frowned.

"I don't want to cheat, but I also want to know what he is saying."

"He's just explaining who the crew members are." Yume answered from her other side.

"I'm on the ground crew!" Ku piped up happily.

Kusano had been designated the daily check-in monitor. This was mainly to appease her when they said she couldn't go up with them. As a compromise Kyla had arranged with the others to take her to visit the ship every day and to make sure they were all ok.

In truth, someone from the North Korean ground control would make a trip to the shuttle daily to resupply them. It was one way they cut down on the need to carry six months of supplies.

"Yes Ku, and hopefully later today we will be able to make our first check-in with them." Kyla assured the little girl on Yume's lap.

The speeches didn't go on much longer, Superman was the key speaker, the Emperor of Japan also spoke, something he didn't do often to the entire world. Diana gave a short speech in Ancient Greek on how the Amazons of Themiscyra were honoured to be part of this and were enjoying the nobility of Japanese and North Korean people.

The number of flash photographs taken tripled during her speech. It might have had something to do with the astoundingly beautiful woman being in her costume… it was functional but also… flattering.

The crew then boarded the ship. Manuel was also a part of this crew, or a dupe was at least. The ship was capable of taking a similar flight path a rocket would take… up. But instead they would circle the Earth constantly gaining altitude until they broke atmosphere. They wanted to keep the fuel needed for a ballistic climb in reserve in case of emergency.

The crew waved to crowd made up of Korean citizens and international press and then boarded the ship. They taxied out onto the runway, which had to be lengthened several times. The ship would hit the sound barrier before it left the ground and would continue to gain speed until it hit outer space. Then the FTL drive would kick in and they would jump to the moon in seconds.

Superman kept pace with the ship as it went and would do so until they made it into orbit.

Eventually the ship was airborne and flying safely. There were no problems in sight.

The crowd stayed and watched for a while even as the trail left by the ship dissipated. The castle residents headed inside with Chloe, Batman and the Flash to keep track of the ship via satellite feeds.

"Report!" Harry ordered. All the members of Ground Control were Korean but they used translation charms so they could communicate with the English-speaking members of the crew.

"Sir, the shuttle reports no problems. The ship is performing as expected." The Ground Commander said briskly.

"Excellent." Harry grinned.

"The ship has already reached high hyper-sonic speeds. There maybe some work needed on nearby buildings as they were at super-sonic quicker than anticipated and did not have a high enough altitude."

Harry grimaced. "Are the medics out there?"

"Yes sir."

"Keep me informed then." Harry nodded.

* * *

Half an hour later they received a relayed radio message.

"_Unidentified aircraft, you are entering US Airspace. Turn about or we will be forced to shoot you down."_

"_This is the intergalactic space ship Amaterasu, we are consistently broadcasting our international transponder and have acquired the required licences for our flight plan. Please check your equipment for faults or look out the window with a telescope to confirm our identity." _Came the sarcastic response from Diana.

"_We are unable to confirm your identity at this time or find records of your flight plan. Turn about or we will be forced to shoot you down."_ Came the calm reply.

"_America, you should be aware that we are travelling at beyond high hyper-sonic speeds, nothing you shoot at us will reach us. Also, turn on a television, this conversation is being broadcast on every channel."_

"_Not in the US its not. You have been given a warning. We have no choice but to shoot you down."_

"Would you be so kind as to patch me through?" The Prime Minister of Japan requested of Harry.

Harry smirked and gave a nod to the communications chief.

"Amaterasu, this is Ground Control communications, please relay the following signal as the Prime Minister of Japan wishes to address the Americans."

"_Ground Control, you are linked in."_ Came the response of the ships communications officer.

"This is the Prime Minister of Japan. Can you identify who I am speaking with?"

"_This is the United States of America. Can you prove your identity?"_ The American challenged.

"Yes, turn on a television and you will see a camera pointing at me from within Ground Control as I continue this moronic conversation with you." The Prime Minister responding dryly.

"_As I said, we have no broad-"_

"Then go on the Internet. America appears to be the only country not watching. Regardless, you are officially warned that firing on the Amaterasu will be considered an act of war against Japan and North Korea as well as Themiscyra.

"The Amaterasu is fully registered with international bodies and the US. The French didn't deny us, nor did the Germans, at this point in time your own actions are about to plunge your country into dark times with the rest of the world."

"_Two interceptor jets have been dispatched to eliminate the threat to America. Any further attempts at incursion into US airspace will be seen as an act of war."_

There was a hiss of static as the Americans cut the transmission.

"_Ground Control, this is Amaterasu, any orders?"_ Came Diana's voice.

"Amaterasu, hold your course and leave the Americans to Superman." Harry instructed.

"_Understood."_

* * *

Superman easily kept pace with the Amaterasu, he could have quite easily put them in space and saved them some fuel. The naming of the ship was actually his idea, he wanted to name it after one of the gods and as Amaterasu had helped build the bonds between Japan and it's new allies she seemed to be the perfect choice.

Superman was well aware of the radio chatter and he couldn't believe the arrogance of the American government. They could have quite easily denied the permits _before_ the launch of the ship but no, they decided to try and put the Amaterasu in an impossible position. There was no way the ship could change course at the speeds it was going and there would be untold problems if they tried to slow down. Even Superman couldn't stop the ship from passing over America; it would take at least himself and Green Lantern to accomplish it without killing everyone on board.

He saw the two fighter jets on an intercept course for the Amaterasu.

"Ground Control this is Superman, I have the US jets in sight. How do you want me to handle this?" He asked over his Avenger's comm. link.

"_Superman, our leaders are leaving this completely in your hands. We will support whatever decision you make."_

Superman sighed as moved in front of the Amaterasu. It seemed like Harry was saying this was all up to him.

He decided to only respond if the jets fired. It was unlikely the bullets would hurt the ship as it was designed to withstand meteor impacts. Either way Superman would catch the bullets and respond accordingly. The Amaterasu was currently at 75,000 feet; the US didn't have jets that could go that high without a vertical climb, they were risking stalling at even these heights.

Unfortunately they decided to open with missiles. Superman moved in quickly and snatched them up before throwing them straight back at the jets. Both jets banked out of the way but one of them took damage from the blast. The jets only had one shot at taking out the Amaterasu as once they had passed there was no way for them to catch up again.

Superman flew to the second jet and broke off the flaps and tail wings. He then flew off and grabbed the pilot of the first plane who had ejected. Lastly he flew back to the second plane and manoeuvred under it before beginning to carry it away.

"Ground Control, this is Superman, are there anymore threats to the Amaterasu?"

"_Superman, there is nothing on radar."_

"Then prepare a place for me to put these pilots and the plane. I'm bringing them back as prisoners of war."

"_Erm… understood Superman. Preparations are under way."_ Came the uncertain response.

Superman only took thirty minutes to get back to the take-off site during which the Amaterasu broke atmosphere and took up a geo-stationary orbit over North Korea whilst the crew performed some tests on the ship before beginning the next leg of their journey. One of those minutes was spent capturing the pilot of the second jet who decided to try and eject.

The military were on site and took custody of the pilots and the jet. Once the pilots, who refused to give anything other than name, rank and serial number, were out of sight Harry and the others teleported out. Harry was fairly amused.

"You do realise that that jet is probably the most inferior piece of technology in the country?" He asked.

"The Americans don't know that." Superman pointed out.

"Why did you take the pilots prisoner?" Dani asked.

"I would assume a public trial in front of the world would be good for North Korea and might give the rest of the world a reason to start using common sense to give America a wide berth. They did just commit an act of war on three nations after all."

"Three nations and a planet." Chloe corrected. "If you consider that Cl-Superman, as the lone survivor of Krypton is pretty much the leader of the Kryptonians."

"Krypton's gone Chloe." The Green Lantern spoke up. "Although you could say they attacked a race… attempted genocide?"

"Any chance I could press charges with the Corp?" Superman asked curiously.

"Wow, you really have a hard-on for America right now." Flash chuckled.

"My friends are on that ship." Superman pointed out. "They are doing this partly as a favour to me. They also keep bugging my friends and family. They are just lucky that I don't hold the citizens of America responsible for the government."

"A ship that was named in my honour was attacked." As Amaterasu herself appeared the mortals bowed low and gods and aspect offered bows of respect. "I trust my children will take appropriate action?" She asked her Emperor as she raised him by the shoulders.

"We have already begun, Most August One." The Emperor said shakily.

"Please rise." The goddess said kindly. "Kal-El, I was flattered and honoured by your naming of the ship. It has my blessing and protections as it travels, as does your ground crew here. I look forward to learning more about our universe myself." She said as she vanished.

"Don't the gods know all about the universe?" Flash asked curiously.

"We know much about the worlds we watch over." Aphrodite answered. "But we do not venture into the territories of others."

"Oh right… Krypton had Rao and The Guardians are also gods." Flash nodded as he remembered various discussions he'd had with Clark, Harry and the others.

"You realise that the American Government will now use this opportunity to demand sanctions against North Korea and to begin preparing their military for a possible invasion." Batman warned.

"It has been a long time since I sank a battleship." Miya said calmly as she examined the blade of her sword. "I do believe I will enjoy repeating the activity."

"And she isn't even the most blood thirsty of my wives." Harry joked.

* * *

The Amaterasu made it to the moon with out trouble where they touched down and immediately began erecting the station that would allow other scientists and astronauts to work and hopefully build on what they began. Diana decided to unilaterally claim the moon on behalf of the Amazon-North Korea-Japan Alliance; she then invited all other nations of Earth to partake of their hospitality on the moon.

Except America… who she essentially told to stuff it.

As a result of Diana's actions work immediately began on a second ship that would take a crew to the moon on a regular basis to supervise visitors and run experiments. They weren't expecting any other countries to have those capabilities yet but they were inviting members of other nations to send scientists to North Korea if they wanted to participate.

America was told to shove off.

The American government was suffering badly in the polls. The people were not pleased that they were now considered pariahs in the world thanks to their government and they were pretty damn pissed that they had tried to kill Wonder Woman and Superman, two heroes who had saved many lives and were well loved.

Things became worse for the government when they realised that Japan had withdrawn its ambassadors and ordered a halt to all trade with America.

Computer gamers were camped outside the White House with placards and eggs as they raged against the government that kept them from the best games and systems in the world. It didn't help that most of their electronics where made in places like Asia and China was enjoying jumping on the bandwagon and placing their own embargoes.

Matsu had nearly had a heart attack when she realised this might affect her systems in Smallville. Laura had laughed as Brunhilde scoffed: "We make all our own parts."

The technological twosome became a threesome.

The Prime Minister of Japan was involved in personal heated debates with the UN; he was demanding sanctions against the US for an unprovoked attack. He had many supporters in the form of most of Europe and Asia who saw America's actions as an example of what they would do if their countries developed better abilities than America.

Japan wanted an apology, monetary compensation and a ruling that would prevent the US from launching any more Satellites or space vehicles for at least five years.

As it stood the US was forced to re-task all it's current satellites as anytime one of them strayed over Japan or North Korea, Japan would shoot it down.


	44. Chapter 44

**Author's Political Disclaimer:**

I did actually mean to put something like this in about so-called 'America Bashing', but a few reviewers pointed out I should as well.

I am not intending to bash America.

Politicians?

Damn straight!

There will be very few politicians in my stories that manage to show they have two braincells _and_ common sense. I am British and if you read Potter's Protector then you know I happily bash my own government.

Furthermore... the American Government I am bashing is a fictional one based on those created by Rowling, DC and Marvel. You are not entitled to take offence unless you also happen to be a fictional character from those universes. If you are... please let me know in a review as I would love some of the great tech you guys have. Armoured Power Suits, genetic manipulation, the ability to give people super powers. What's not to want?

Some queried if this was a jab at the current US Government Shutdown. I wrote this nearly a year ago and I can assure you I am not a seer.

On a side and unrelated note: People keep asking me to write or add SG1... Try The Champion. It is a Xander-centric SG1 tale. I haven't worked on the sequel for a while (mainly because I never saw seasons 9 and 10), if I get the chance I intend to give The Champion an over haul though, it was my first foray into a crossover and it could use it.

I have no plans to add additional crossovers if they are not DC.

**On to the chapter...**

* * *

Whilst the political jousting was going on Clark and the girls had returned to school. Clark was picked by Emma to mentor a new student, Jordon Cross. Jordan had been home-schooled until recently and Harry had warned them that he had some form of kryptonite infection. Jordan had issues with touching people but Clark didn't mind as long as Jordan was ok. Whilst meeting Jordan at lunch time out the front of the school he noticed that Jordan seemed distracted, he spent a fair amount of time staring at Assistant Coach Joseph Altman.

"Jordan, is everything ok?" Clark asked carefully. As far as he knew Coach Altman was a good man. He only worked part time but Harry would never have let Emma hire him if there was a major problem.

"Clark… if- if you could see some- if you knew something bad was going to happen… what would you do?" Jordan asked, his eyes never leaving the Coach.

"I'd do everything in my power to stop it." Clark replied. "Do you know if something bad is going to happen?"

Jordan hesitated for a split second before he shook his head vigorously, clearly in distress.

"Jordan, I've seen lots of bad things happen. I've dealt with-" Clark stopped as Jordan gasped.

He quickly followed the younger boys gaze and saw a car driving down the road and Coach Altman just standing at the side of the road in a slight daze.

Clark vanished from his place into the air before anyone noticed and changed his costume. Just as the Coach stepped off the curb Superman moved him from out of the path of the car as the car swerved and mounted the pavement before crashing into a lamppost.

Superman placed Altman on the pavement he was about to move off to help the driver when he heard Altman say.

"I just want to be with my little girl." Before he burst into tears.

"Somebody get Doctor Potter and Principal Frost." A nearby Mindee snapped.

Lana could be seen running into the building as the Cuckoos made their way over to Superman who was ripping the door off the car that had crashed.

"Can we help?" Phoebe asked seriously.

"We might need an ambulance for the driver." He indicated the man at the wheel who was unconscious. "Someone also needs to keep an eye on Coach Altman. He just tried to commit suicide." He said quietly.

"We'll inform Doctor Potter and have someone stay with him." Phoebe assured him.

"Thank you ladies." Superman said respectfully.

"Superman, just in the area?" Harry asked with a grin as he jogged up with Emma, Scott, Dani _and_ Laura in tow.

"Fortunately I was. I don't normally patrol at this time of day but I was travelling nearby and saw this happening." Superman told his most famous known associate other than the mysterious Aphrodite.

"We are most grateful for your assistance, Superman." Emma inclined her head.

Superman nodded to the Principal. "The driver appears to be suffering from standard whiplash and bruising to the forehead and brain. He wasn't speeding so it could have been a lot worse."

"The ambulance is on the way so we'll leave it to them to move him." Harry nodded.

In the distance they could hear the sirens.

"It looks like you are going to have your first meeting with Sheriff Adams!" Dani grinned.

Superman just glared at her.

He turned back to Harry. "You've been told about Altman?"

"Lana relayed the message." Harry nodded. In truth the Cuckoos had informed everyone, but for the purposes of timelines it would be claimed that Lana told him.

They all turned as the emergency vehicles arrived. Harry quickly briefed the paramedics whilst the others just looked to the Sheriff.

The Sheriff was just standing there… gawping at Superman. She was clearly in awe.

"Sheriff?" Scott asked carefully.

Superman resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he heard several snickers from behind him. "Sheriff Adams?" He said he held out his hand to shake.

"You are?" Came the awed and confused response.

Superman lowered his hand and sighed. "Sheriff, snap out of it!" He hissed under his breath.

Then the worst possible thing happened.

"Te-he-he"

Yes. The Sheriff let out a girly giggle.

Superman turned to Emma. "Can I leave this in your hands?"

Emma just smirked as the others were trying not to laugh. "Of course Superman. It was good to see you again and thank you for your help."

Superman just nodded before he shot into the sky.

"Awww"

The pitiful whine caused them all to turn back to the Sheriff.

"That was Superman!" The Sheriff said excitedly. "I can't believe I got to meet Superman!"

"I can't believe she considers what just happened a good thing." Dani muttered to Kyla.

The Sheriff's face dropped.

"I think realisation just kicked in." Chloe muttered across Kyla.

"I met Superman… and I forgot to ask for his autograph!"

"Not the realisation I was expecting." Chloe said in surprise.

"Oh god!" Kyla whispered. "I bet she has posters of Superman in her bedroom!"

"Should we tell Clark?" Chloe asked.

They looked at her as though she were nuts.

* * *

Whilst Scott, Harry and the girls were trying to break Sheriff Adams out of her daze Clark had done his best to get back to Jordan who was still staring at the scene. Nobody else noticed him leaving and returning either, they too were entranced by the sight of Superman saving Coach Altman and then leaving the Sheriff a speechless mess.

"You knew the Coach was going to do that, didn't you?"

Jordan snapped out of his daze. "What do you mean?" He asked nervously.

"Come with me." Clark smiled.

Jordan was still wary but he followed Clark to where the girls were.

"Chloe, can I borrow your car?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Try not to break it."

"One time!"

"You totalled it and you weren't even in it!"

"And I fixed it didn't I?"

"And that's the only reason you aren't in the dog house over it." She glared.

Clark shook his head in defeat and turned to Dani. "I'm taking Jordan here to see Jean. I think he could do with talking to her."

Dani frowned but nodded. "Not Harry?"

"Harry might be a bit much." Clark explained, Jordan was skittish at best; Harry would likely cause him to bolt.

"Take him to Lorna then." Dani suggested. "Jean doesn't quite look the part yet." She reminded him. It was true, Jean still looked about fourteen, she would age naturally from this point on.

"Right. Come on Jordan, I've got some friends who can help you out."

"Help with what?"

"Trust me, you'll see." Clark smiled.

* * *

Clark spent the trip to the castle telling Jordan all about the various Kryptonite infected people he had met. Everyone from Greg Arkin to Earl Jenkins. The good the bad and the ones taken over by their powers. He didn't give any names though, just what the powers where and whether they had managed to help them or if they had to put them away.

"So they can really tell someone's future just by holding their hand?" Jordan asked as they pulled up to the castle. Of all the powers he had heard from Clark, Cassandra's was the one that he had latched onto.

"She can, but as Superman proved today nothing is set in stone. Even your premonitions can be changed."

"Premonitions? I don't have premonitions!" Jordan said hastily.

"Relax, no one here is going to cut you up. People come here and they are taught to control their abilities." Clark said reassuringly.

"Clark, I take it this is the student the others mentioned?"

Jordan was slightly wide eyed at the green-haired goddess that descended the stairs with the beautiful blonde behind her.

"Jordan Cross, meet Lorna Dane. She is the headmistress of the school they hold here." Clark introduced.

"Thank you Clark, I'll take it from here. You can head back to school." Lorna smiled.

Clark just nodded and walked off.

"Jordan, this is Cassandra. She can tell a person's future when she touches their hand. I think you could learn a lot from her."

* * *

"Doctor Potter, Miss Danielle Moonstar, I'm Agent Don and this is Agent Delgado, NSA. We were hoping to ask you a few questions."

Harry and Dani eyed the two men in smart black suits with amusement. They had turned up at the door to Harry and Dani's office just minutes after the last bell rang. Agent Don was maybe in his forties, a very fit black man. Agent Delgado looked to be in his late twenties with Latino features and a definite military bearing.

"Couple of questions from us first." Harry said. "First, have you secured permission with the Principal to be on school grounds?"

"We have." Agent Don nodded.

"This is a voluntary Q and A where we aren't going to be 'ordered' to answer questions?"

"We have no authority to demand anything at this time. We merely came to see if you might be open to answering a few questions that have come up."

Harry looked at Dani and then back at the Agents and shrugged. "Then take a seat and ask away."

Agent Don nodded and took a seat whilst Agent Delgado, who had yet to make an expression, stood by the door.

"Agent Delgado, try not to look so threatening. If students come here then they generally need me for something and the last thing they will want is to be scared away by one of the 'Men in Black'."

Delgado shuffled uncomfortably and instead of crossing his arms he stood at parade rest. It wasn't much of an improvement but it was a start.

"If we can start with the obvious, Miss Moonstar, Superman recently spoke on television and stated that the name of his home planet is 'Krypton'. You registered the name of the green meteor rocks as 'kryptonite' long before that event. Did Superman give you that information?"

"Superman made me aware of the name of his _birth_ planet. I turned it into the name for the meteor rocks. Much more snappy, don't ya think?"

"I would have to say it is more… definitive, every piece of Kryptonite is a meteor rock but not every meteor rock is Kryptonite."

Harry just nodded with a smile. So far he liked this agent.

"Sure, but… _snappy!_" Dani insisted with a grin.

"I think it depends on your personal definition of 'snappy', but I do like it." Agent Don chuckled.

"Leave the man alone, Dani. He's doing a good job. So is Delgado considering he's managed to cause Felice to scuttle off quickly."

Agent Don looked over his shoulder to Agent Delgado with a frown.

When he turned back he asked: "Felice?"

"Felice Chandler, has a real 'hot for teacher' thing with Harry." Dani smirked. "It's why I have an office with him. Harry needs protecting."

"Yeah, is your partner available for hire?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Ask after he's finished at least year with the Agency please." Agent Don joked lightly.

"Meh, Felice will have graduated by then. Oh well, next question."

"Superman was here earlier today. Do you have any means of contacting him?"

"He's not exactly at our beck and call." Dani said with a slight frown.

"No, of course not, what I mean is does he just show up randomly or can you arrange times to meet. Do you have a method of communication, telephone, Morse code, semaphores even?"

"We have methods, but they are private." Harry admitted carefully.

Agent Don just nodded. "Understandable."

"Really?!" Dani asked in surprise causing Harry to laugh. "I'm sorry, but considering the last time the government was here about superheroes I figured you would be demanding more answers." She said petulantly.

"No, I understand where you're coming from." Don smiled. "But like I said, we have no authority to demand anything at this time. This is a literal fact finding mission for the moment. I'm not sure where my orders are coming from exactly but my boss sent me to find out some basics so we can hopefully mend some fences and build some bridges.

"Your session with Congress did not sit well with the public which in turn makes the President unhappy. He can't unilaterally control Congress but he can make use of Agencies like us."

"What about the incident with the Amaterasu?" Dani demanded with a little heat. "We have friends on that shuttle."

"I really can't give you answers about that. I did inquire about the incident but I couldn't find anything out." He admitted.

"It happened, North Korea takes good care of its prisoners, it will probably hand them over soon, too much hassle to keep them." Harry said dismissively.

"Is it really that different there now?" It was clear that Agent Don was asking the question for himself.

"Sure, the people don't have to watch over their shoulder to make sure they are going to be arrested for thinking badly about the government. They have access to food and medicine as they need it. It will be some time before they are ready to open their borders though, they have essentially been in isolation all this time." Harry explained.

Agent Don nodded clearly engrossed by what he was hearing.

"Next question?" Dani prodded.

"Right… um… yes, you have the ability to contact Superman, would you be willing to ask him if he would meet with us. By us I mean myself and my silent and imposing young partner back there."

"I can ask him." Harry admitted.

"Asking is all we want but I would like to point out that talking with me would go a long way to easing some fears back in the capital."

"Of course." Harry nodded.

* * *

"So, is Superman going to have to avoid Smallville?" Clark asked that evening in the Castle.

"Are you kidding?" Kyla asked. "Sheriff Adams looked like someone had stolen her baby when she realised you'd left!"

"So… yes, Superman can never go to Smallville again." Clark sighed.

"She wasn't that bad Clark." Scott chuckled.

Clark just stared at him.

"Name one person that ever did that to you Scotty." Harry challenged.

"Well, Emma did seduce him when he was married." Logan offered.

"That doesn't count." Jean said dismissively. "Emma was a conniving, selfish bitch. The Sheriff, from what I heard, was rendered completely speechless."

"I love you too, darling." Emma drawled.

Jean just grinned.

"How did things go with Jordan?" Clark asked Lorna.

"Fairly well." The green-haired witch smiled. "Once we showed him he wasn't alone he really warmed up to the place."

"It's a shame we can't turn their powers on and off like with the x-gene." Jean sighed. "People like Ryan and Jordan deserve better."

"These powers are completely energy based." Harry explained. "They are triggered by chemical reactions like hormones that eventually become consciously controlled through the brains chemical and electrical reactions.

"There are a few incidents where they actually force a physical mutation like with Greg Arkin.

"I also have an idea on how to de-power these people."

"You do? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Jean demanded.

"Because it involves putting them through the same process that neutralises kryptonite." Harry said unhappily. "I'll need to see some experiments done on at least myself, Laura and Logan first. I could also use a regular human to test it on."

"I'll do it." Xander offered. "I don't have any other jobs at the moment, just helping Lorna out around here at the moment."

"You don't count Xand." Neville pointed out. "You are not only magical but a werewolf too."

"Oh yeah." Xander mused. "I still think of myself as the sidekick at times."

"We could always kidnap the Luthors and use them." Loki offered.

It was hard to tell if she was joking.

"I'll talk to the parents of some of my students, see if they might be willing to help out." Lorna countered.

"Tell us about the interesting stuff!" Dani ordered. "Tell us about the Men in Black." She nudged Harry.

"But you were there." Chloe argued.

"Yeah, it's a good story. I wanna hear it." She said in a mildly petulant tone.

"They were a couple of decent blokes." Harry explained. "Agents Don and Delgado. Don was fairly easy going but still professional and respectful whilst Delgado looks like he was either a Marine or a member of one of the more elite sections of the armed forces, but both had nice clean souls."

"Delgado doesn't seem to realise he's not in the military anymore, he stood at attention for most of the meeting." Dani laughed.

"I thought you wanted to hear the story?" Chloe asked with a smile.

"Hush, Harry's talking." Dani said with mock seriousness.

"Anyway, they asked a few simple questions including the one we've been waiting for about Dani knowing Superman due to her naming the meteor rocks. "They also asked if we could ask Superman to meet with them."

Everyone turned to look to Clark.

Clark looked uncomfortable.

"Don did point out, without malice, that talking to them would make a good impression on the government." Dani added.

"I can see the… logic." Clark allowed. "But it just seems like the start of a long line of meetings. I meet with these Agents and then another agency comes along and wants a meeting."

"The United Nations!" Tess said suddenly.

"What about them?" Clark asked.

"Don't meet with the Agents, have Harry ask them to arrange a meeting where you address the United Nations and answer questions from the representatives. That way no country can say they need their own answers and meetings."

"Plus the whole thing can be televised so the whole world can see it." Chloe added.

"As long as I don't have to answer questions I don't want to."

"There is a way you can pre-empt some of their queries to save time." Aphrodite offered from where she was wedged between Musubi and Yume with Ku on her lap. "It may be time to publish information on Krypton and your people. Your Internet is a powerful tool, all of you are experienced in its use and Harry has plenty of people in his personal country that could work on it."

"But we know so little of Clark's world." Tsukiumi argued mildly.

"Most of what we do know could be summed up on a single sheet of paper." Brunhilde agreed with annoyance.

"Perhaps we should call in some aid then." Amara said firmly. "We have often bandied about the idea of calling on the Vision to investigate the computer systems from Clark's ship. Let us put action to word."

* * *

"Really? All of you?" Harry sighed in exasperation.

Standing in the entrance hall was Bruce Banner, Jamie Madrox and the Vision.

"I was bored." Bruce shrugged.

"Jean said you had some people like me!" Jamie said excitedly.

"You did request my aid." The Vision pointed out calmly.

"Emma is going to throw a hissy fit. I'll let Laura know she has to create three more identities." Harry said as he turned and walked away.

"Hey, tell me about these multiple men Jean mentioned!" Jamie insisted.

"_After_ I get Vision and Bruce started on the Kryptonian tech." Harry said. "Then I'll take you to meet… actually, just go down to the dungeons. There's a kid down there who isn't like you exactly but he does have the ability to duplicate himself. It's a mutation though."

"He's in the dungeon?" Bruce queried.

"He's a murderer."

"I believe Bruce is asking why you haven't executed him yet." The Vision pointed out.

"Ask Jonathan Kent." Harry grumbled.

"If you could send me to Brunhilde, I will begin my work." The Vision offered.

"Vision! It is good to see you again." Brunhilde smiled as she teleported in. "Bruce, Jamie? Why are you here?"

"Jamie wants to meet Manuel and Bruce… is bored." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Ah, well his presence is fortuitous." Brunhilde nodded slowly.

"It is?" Jamie, Harry and Bruce asked.

"Were we not just discussing procedures to remove the meteor infections from our prisoners? Who better to aid us then one of the foremost minds on radiation and mutations?"

Harry turned to Bruce with a grin. "So… you said you were bored?"

* * *

"Jeeze, you're just a wannabe."

"Who are you? Are you my lawyer?"

"Only way you get a lawyer is if my friends can take away or inhibit your little ability." Jamie laughed as he addressed the cell containing Ian Randall, the boy who could 'duplicate' himself.

"When I get out of here the whole world will know you kept me prisoner illegally." Ian sneered.

"Chances are we'll tell them ourselves. Along with the fact that you murdered a guy over…" He checked the data on the tablet next to the cell. "A C-GRADE?!" Jamie screeched. "Jeeze kid, you may never get out of here, seriously man, you don't even have OCD and… whoa!" Jamie was suddenly impressed. "You actually tried to date multiple girls at once… and your teacher? Ian my man, take it from someone who's been in your shoes, stay in the cell."

"If they let you out they'll have to let me out." Ian reasoned.

Jamie snorted. "Well I didn't murder anybody. On the other hand, you are much safer in there. Cheating on multiple women will put you in a world of hurt. I didn't even realise it was happening when I did it and they still never let me live it down!

"You get out of that cell and you will never have a happy day on your life. At least in there you get food, sleep and a TV."

"Women are easy… you just need to sweet talk them." Ian smirked confidently.

"EASY?!"

Jamie's face paled as he heard Jean screech behind him. "Later kid… well… maybe."


	45. Chapter 45

Clark was livid as he knocked on the Principal's door; the news he just heard made him sick.

"Come in."

Clark stormed into the room. "I'm not going to suggest this is a bad joke." Clark said his anger all over his face. "I'm not going to insinuate that this is some sort of horrible mix-up. All I'm going to ask is are you doing something about it?"

Emma smiled softly. One of the things Clark had learnt from them was that making threats and casual backhanded comments was fine when dealing with an idiot, but straight up honesty was the way to go forward.

"The economics teacher went over my head to the State Education Board." Emma said calmly and quietly. "All schools are now required to take their economics classes to a certified business in order to experience how things work."

"But the Luthors? If-" Clark stopped and glanced at the door. "Is it safe?"

Emma waved a hand casting a privacy charm and nodded.

"If the Luthors get even a hint that one of the students might have an ability… that students life will be over. That aside, how can the State even think of condoning someone like the Luthors?"

"Clark, remember that until you and Harry rule the world, it will always have corrupt governments. Even after you rule the world you will still have to deal with the occasional idiot who thinks he can get away with something." Emma lectured lightly.

"So you're saying LuthorCorp greased some palms." Clark said with a sigh. "Does it _have_ to be LuthorCorp? What about another company?"

"It has to be a company in the state. I did try and persuade them to allow us to visit Bruce in Gotham."

"What about Tess and our company?"

"Wrong type of business according to the State."

"I swear Emma, I'm tempted to rip the LuthorCorp building to the ground myself than let the students near the place." Clark said as he slumped into the chair opposite her desk.

"We will fight this until the last moment Clark, but there is only one way I can see this being fixed for next year."

"Oh?"

"We need another company to set up a branch in Kansas."

"Oh… Oh!" Clark said in realisation. "I'll talk to Bruce first, I'd rather not face Mom and Takami with this idea unless it's really necessary." He gulped. Martha was frequently complaining about all the signing she had to do and Takami was still trying to get a handle on the Sekirei.

"Get out, you coward." Emma smirked.

"I would have thought you would be proud of yourself as a woman!" Clark countered with a small grin.

"Hence my smirk."

* * *

"Diana!"

The Commander of the Amaterasu smiled as the little Sekirei ran up and jumped into her arms. Without a doubt little Kusano was the joy of the castle and one of things she most missed whilst she filled out her tour on Earth's first inter-galactic vessel.

"And how are you my Louloudi?" She asked using the nickname she had given the little girl, 'flower' in Greek.

"I am very well, thank you. How are you?"

"I am very well as well. You have such lovely manners. Where did you learn them?" She smiled in amusement.

"Aunty Amara taught me. She said I could be a Queen when I was older and that a Queen should always have good manners."

"And until you are Queen, what are you?" Harry asked as he watched the pair.

"A little princess." Ku beamed. She looked to Diana with hope and curiosity. "Does that mean you are my big sister too?"

"Of course Louloudi. You have many big sisters now. You have all your sister wives with Clark, all my sisters on Themiscyra and of course you have my sister wives with Harry." She finished with a kiss on the girl's cheek.

Kusano smiled contentedly as she snuggled into Diana's chest.

"I assume you wanted me because of what's down there?" Harry asked as he indicated the big red planet of Mars out the cockpit window.

"Yes, we have no idea what is there but the team is both excited and confused." Diana shrugged. She herself had no training on what was speculated about the universe beyond Earth's atmosphere, she was simply there to lead and represent Themiscyra.

"Life." Harry said simply. "There are souls down there, plenty of souls." Harry said as he turned to look out the window.

"You can tell that from here?" She asked with slight awe.

"Diana, when I walk through cities I can see every soul in every building. I have just learnt to ignore it these days. It's a bit like if Clark had to walk around with his x-ray vision active all the time."

"Do we make contact?" Diana asked.

"No, there are a lot of dark souls. I don't want them disturbed yet. It's like a hive of bees down there, if we mess with them we might put Earth in a lot of danger."

"So we leave them be?"

"For now. Drop a satellite to monitor the planet but don't put anything on the surface. Passive scans only, your scientists will understand." He added at her confused look. "We might consider this a first opportunity for the governments of Earth to work together."

"How will you convince them that they are dangerous?"

"I won't, I'll just have to convince them to assume the worst and hope for the best."

* * *

The trip to LuthorCorp for the economics class had finally arrived. Clark, Chloe, Lana, Kyla and the triplets were not happy and they made that very clear through non-participation.

And overly loud comments.

"Is this the level where they do the human experiments?" Chloe asked innocently as they headed to the elevator. They were currently on the 39th floor and exceptionally bored. Clark had spent most of the time engaged in cooperate espionage as he looked through walls and safes.

The triplets had pulled the access codes and passwords from every one from the janitors to Lionel himself.

"Chloe, don't be obtuse." Phoebe admonished before Miss Alice, their teacher, or Lionel could respond.

"LuthorCorp is an 'evil' corporation, not a 'dumb' one." Mindee lectured.

"They probably do the human experiments in a secret base somewhere." Celeste said airily.

"Look, I've just about had it with your group Kent." Miss Alice hissed as she watched Lionel stalk off angrily. "Either you keep your friends in line or I will have your place on the football team revoked."

"That honestly wouldn't bother me." Clark shrugged. "In fact, I would like to see you try."

"Don't delude yourself woman." Phoebe snapped as she stepped into the woman's personal space.

"None of us want to be in this place of evil." Celeste said as she stepped up next to her sister.

"Now get on the damned elevator so we can go home and shower." Mindee finished as she stepped up to Phoebe's other side.

When faced with the ire of the Stepford Cuckoos, no one, not man, woman, alien or animal could stare them down.

Even Logan and Emma quailed at the sight. Harry was an unknown as he was smart enough not to draw their attention.

Miss Alice gulped. "Everyone on the elevator." She squeaked as she backed away, her courage mounted slightly but she didn't turn her back. "We've wasted enough of Mr. Luthor's valuable time."

Eventually she turned her back and quickened her pace to the elevators. The triplets turned back to their friends with a very smug grin.

"Come on, let's hurry before we miss the ride." Lana said with fond exasperation.

Clark, ever the gentleman, waited until everyone was on board before trying to enter the elevator himself. Unfortunately there were a few LuthorCorp employees already taking up room and he and Alicia Baker, another student, were left stranded.

"Wait for the next one Kent. Or you could always walk." Miss Alice smirked triumphantly as the doors closed.

She never saw the death glares from the girls behind her.

"Come on Alicia. At least we won't have to worry about claustrophobia." He said with a reassuring smile as he hit the button for the other elevator.

"You don't think she'll leave us here, do you?"

Clark laughed. "She didn't drive the bus and the guy who did drive us won't leave until he has accounted for all of us."

Alicia was clearly relieved as they stepped onto the newly arrived empty elevator.

They travelled a total of two floors before Clark's luck kicked in. There was a horrible grinding noise before the elevator began to plummet to the ground.

Clark quickly zapped the security camera with his heat vision before allowing himself to float to the ceiling where he braced himself and began slowing the decent of the elevator. They soon slowed to a more respectable speed but still faster than what they should be travelling at.

They hit the ground with a loud bang as Clark had no idea what floor they were one when the power had cut to the elevator. The only light was coming from emergency backups.

"How about we don't mention this to anyone?" Clark asked.

He was fairly surprised when Alicia grabbed him in a hug and they vanished.

* * *

The students of Smallville High practically stampeded out of the elevator having felt the neighbouring vehicle cause massive vibrations that made them think _they_ were the ones in trouble.

"Is that boy alright?" Kyla asked the Cuckoos tightly.

"He's fine." Mindee assured her. "Apparently Alicia is a teleporter, he stopped the elevator from crashing and she took them back up to the 39th floor."

"You might want to ask Laura to come in and wipe the cameras, I know there was one in our elevator." Chloe warned.

"On it." Celeste chirped.

"Wouldn't Alicia want Clark to keep her ability a secret?" Lana asked.

"We're family to Clark." Kyla shrugged. "He knows we will keep secret what he tells us in confidence."

Chloe started laughing loudly.

Considering there was a fairly banged up elevator nearby that could have killed a lot of people… it probably wasn't the best reaction in the world.

Chloe stopped abruptly as she noticed the entire lobby staring at her. "Damn you Kyla!" She hissed.

"Me? You're the one who started laughing." Kyla said defensively.

"This is almost as bad as when Lex got us all in trouble!" Chloe whined.

"I didn't do anything!" Kyla complained.

"You said Clark trusts us!"

"He does! Usually that's a good thing, not a funny thing."

"Unfortunately you don't realise how bad Clark was before you met him." Lana smirked. She was enjoying the scene between the two girls. "Clark spent his whole life before Harry arrived trying to hide the truth about himself. Chloe found it amusing that you think it is natural for Clark to be so trusting."

"And you don't?" Chloe challenged.

"Of course I do, I just have better control." She said with a teasing wink.

"Joyce! You wanna explain why Kent and Baker are being forced to walk down 39 flights of steps on their own?"

The class turned to see the bus driver storming in. The bus driver being Xander. A very unhappy Xander.

"There wasn't enough room on the elevator and I'll thank you to watch your tone!" She couldn't believe a school bus driver was disrespecting her.

"Sorry, I'm already watching my language so I can't focus on my tone." He snarked. "You do _not_ abandon students, especially when they are under your care in foreign territory."

"LuthorCorp is hardly foreign territory."

"It is not the school and that is foreign enough. Now you will climb the stairs and meet them whilst I take these students out to the bus. Kent tells me the elevators have been shut down."

"I do not take orders from bus drivers! If you are that worried _you_ can go and meet them! I am not traversing 39 flights for that disrespectful boy."

"Joyce Alice, you are fired."

"You don't have the authority."

"Call the Principal, try me." Xander dared. He then pulled out his own cell phone and dialled a number. "Yeah, is this Captain Sawyer?"

"…"

"My names Xander Harris, I work for Doctor Potter at his school. Do you have a cop in the area that could help me babysit a few kids for a couple of minutes? I've got two students stuck up on the 39th floor of LuthorCorp and I can't leave the rest of them alone."

"…"

"Trust me, we wouldn't be anywhere near this place if the State hadn't forced us."

"…"

"Cool, I really appreciate this. See you in a few."

He turned and addressed the class. "Gang, in a few minutes Captain Sawyer of the MPD will be here to keep an eye on you whilst I deal with Kent and Baker. Unfortunately, 39 flights of stairs will take a while so you might as well go wait in the cafeteria over there."

* * *

Clark and Alicia had made it to the 25th floor by the time Xander was able to reach them.

"Let's take a break for a minute." Xander panted.

"It can't be that hard, Alicia isn't even sweating." Clark grinned.

"If she had to _climb_ twenty-five flights she'd be begging for oxygen." Xander glared at him.

Clark hadn't allowed Alicia to discuss what had happened during their descent. There were plenty of LuthorCorp employees who now had to use the stairs and they couldn't ensure there weren't microphones around.

"Who are you… sir?" Alicia asked hesitantly.

Xander smiled widely. "Xander Harris, school security and your bus driver for the day. I called Captain Sawyer and she's downstairs watching the class for me whilst I collect you two." He explained as they resumed their descent.

"Any news on what happened to the elevators?" Clark asked.

"Apparently the cables snapped _and_ the emergency brakes failed." Xander said in disgust. He then went back to grinning. "Loki and Amara are working on a lawsuit now for endangering the kids."

"Wasn't it an accident?" Alicia asked.

"If only the brakes or the cable failed then yes. But for both to fail is more than a coincidence. It reeks of negligence at best, the elevators are meant to be inspected regularly and the flaws would have been picked up in one of them."

"Oh." She said weakly.

"Come on kids, twenty-three flights left."

By the time they reached the lobby Neville had arrived by helicopter thanks to Logan dropping him off. This was good as both Xander and Alicia were exhausted. Alicia was falling asleep on Clark's shoulder during the ride home and they eventually cleared the back seat of the bus to lay her down whilst the triplets looked after her.

Xander quickly recovered but he still spent most of the trip glaring at Clark for his super stamina whilst Neville drove them home.

Miss Alice was suspended immediately from the school.

* * *

It had been a long day for Clark and the girls. He had just finished his patrol of Metropolis and returned to the castle where he disrobed. He quietly floated above the bed and then landed in the middle where the Sekirei, Aphrodite and Kyla usually left open for him.

It always intrigued and amused him when he saw how the girls grouped off. Aphrodite, Yume and Musubi were often snuggled together whilst Matsu, Kazehana and Tsukiumi cuddled. Kyla and Homura where usually left. Homura still wasn't ready for relations but she felt the impulse to be near her Ashikabi, much like Aphrodite who didn't engage in physical relations but enjoyed sleeping in their bed.

He was looking forward to sleep himself.

Just as he was dosing off he felt a feminine form land on him.

"Not now Matsu, it's late. We can play in the morning."

"That is not Matsu, husband." Came the ice-cold tones of Tsukiumi.

Clark opened his eyes to see all his Sekirei, Aphrodite and Kyla standing in defensive positions and glaring at the figure on top of him.

"Alicia?!"

"Erm… hi?" She said nervously as she eyed the water-sword that Tsukiumi had at her neck.

"Could you get off me and Kyla, can you give everyone some clothes?" Clark requested.

Alicia was currently the only person in the room wearing clothes.

"Matsu, hit the emergency rune." Aphrodite instructed the red head.

The emergency rune was exactly that, a rune to be used in emergencies. It turned every light on and threw up wards that would stop the gods. It would even give Harry pause.

Most importantly, it alerted the rest of the castle to what was going on.

"Really Clark? You have so many girls already, you had to get another one?" Emma asked dryly as the others appeared at the door.

"Yeah, some of us don't even have one girl!" Xander griped.

"He's probably just trying to out do Harry." Dani smirked.

"A little focus, please?" Clark grumbled. "Alicia just teleported into my room and molested me."

"Molested!?" Came the indignant response of Alicia.

"What would you call appearing in a boys room without an invitation and groping him?" Kyla asked.

"Especially when you know he has a girlfriend." Helen said with a glare. "It wouldn't be so bad if he was available but you just tried to make him cheat."

"She's just a normal human, Clark is special, like me!" Alicia said firmly as she looked down her nose at Kyla.

"And what of the woman holding a sword of water at your neck?" Miya asked calmly. "How normal is she?"

Alicia gulped as Tsukiumi, who was still fairly angry, pushed the point a little harder.

"I didn't know about her." Alicia admitted.

Clark's head tilted to the side as he listened. "Look, I have to go. Can I leave you to sort this out?" He asked the group.

"Go on kid, we've got this." Logan nodded.

Clark quickly made his way to the door.

"Clark… wait!" Alicia called worriedly.

But Clark didn't wait. People needed him and he had to leave.

"Clark can't help you now." Kyla scowled. "How are we doing this? Calling the Sheriff or what?" She asked the others.

"Souls a little wonky, but nothing that can't be reversed." Harry shrugged. "We'll put her in the dungeon for the night and then deal with her in the morning."

Alicia's eyes widened in terror at the mention of a dungeon. She vanished in a cloud of green vapour.

"I've got her." Logan grunted as he teleported after her.

"Was that a cloud of kryptonite? How does that not affect Clark?" Tess asked. "If she can emit that much Kryptonite than wouldn't her mere presence hurt him?"

"It looks almost as bad as Earl did." Lana frowned. "Clark couldn't get near him."

"Knocked the girl out and put her in a cell." Logan announced as he returned. "Are we staying up or calling it a night?"

"I'm a little wound up now." Xander said as he rolled his shoulders. "I think I'll go and help Clark with what ever he was dealing with."

"Earthquake in Japan." The Three-In-One said in unison as they sifted through the thoughts of the town and nearby city. "8.5, lot's of damage and people in danger and hurt."

"Everybody suit up." Scott ordered.

"I'll get Chloe and meet you there." Tess offered.

* * *

Everyone was on call to help out in Tokyo, all Sekirei were recalled and issued orders, or at least the ones they had tracked down. Superman was frantically zipping around and moving people out of the way of falling debris and checking for trapped survivors.

Much of central Tokyo's modern buildings where earthquake proof, MBI tower had no damage whatsoever as Neville and Kusano's tree seemed to absorb the vibrations.

Superman was especially angry when he came to the hospital he acquired from Higa. The place was a mess, he had ordered a wing to be opened for children who couldn't afford medical care but the hospital itself appeared to have been shoddily built.

The building was barely standing and Superman could see the dead bodies and struggling, barely living survivors trapped beneath the rubble. He knew he couldn't do this alone.

But then he felt something.

He didn't know how he could feel them but he could.

"Listen to me, I am the Apprentice of Death. I speak for Death and I promise you he can bring you back, stay close to me and he will come and resurrect you and bring you back to life. I promise you!" Superman shouted loudly in Japanese.

He slammed his palm against his watch and hoped Harry wasn't busy… or sleeping.

Superman felt immense relief when he sensed the souls moving closer to him. Most of them were quite young.

"Whoa! This is new." Harry laughed in surprise as he took in the sight of Superman standing on the ruins of the hospital with the souls of little children standing as close to him as they could.

"Please help them, Master." Superman pleaded, considering what he had just promised. He wasn't doing this between Clark Kent and Harry Potter, student and teacher. This was the Apprentice of Death begging his Master.

"Of course I'll help them." Harry smiled. Harry glanced around to look for witnesses, unfortunately the place was teeming with them and quite a few were looking at the crazy Superman talking to nothing about resurrection and the famous Doctor Harry Potter who appeared out of nowhere.

"Looks like the cat's out of the bag now." Harry mused with a shrug. "Oh well, nothing to do but go with the flow." Harry closed his eyes and focused. He raised his hands and the rescue workers watched in awe as the demolished hospital was rebuilt by nothing.

When it was finished Harry smiled and let out a breath. "There, all your bodies are well and healthy. Go and wait by them and I'll be in shortly to put you back." He said kindly to the young souls. "You lot too." He added as he looked to the older patients and staff who had been killed.

"Before you go Superman, can you see the souls?" Harry asked.

"No, but… I could feel them. Any idea why?"

Harry just shrugged. "Never had an Apprentice before." He then marched off into the hospital to begin putting people back in their bodies.

Superman sighed in frustration. He knew he wasn't going to get a better answer than that because there probably wasn't one, but he wished Harry would show a little concern at times.

* * *

"YOU" ***SMACK*** "DO NOT" ***SMACK*** "HIT" ***SMACK*** "WOMEN!"

Lana winced as she watched Tsukiumi smack the would-be rapist around the face as she screeched at him. She wasn't going to stop her and the violence didn't bother her… but Tsukiumi could be quite… loud.

"Tsukiumi!" Yume said loudly, attracting the blonde's attention. "You're scaring the girl." She indicated the teenager they had rescued.

"I don't think she's scaring her, but she's definitely not helping." Lana commented.

"Well why haven't you taken her to the hospital?" Tsukiumi demanded impatiently as she casually held the man by the neck.

"I need to be able to tell the police some details about her attacker, if you keep up your attack then I won't be able to describe his face." She retorted. "Look, just hand him over and let me deal with them. I'll drop them off and rejoin you in a few minutes."

"He deserves more!"

"Tsukiumi!" Yume snapped. "Hand him over. There might others who need protecting."

"Fine." She sulked before turning to snarl at the man hanging limply from her hand. "Pray we do not meet again!"

"Yes ma'am!" The man squeaked.

* * *

"Now you boys wouldn't be thinking of doing something… illegal now, would you?"

The six men trying to break into an electronics store in broad daylight quickly spun around at the sound of the sultry voice.

Standing there were three drop-dead gorgeous women. Also known as Kazehana, Kyla and Musubi. Kazehana being the speaker.

"I don't see any law around here." One of the men stated with a lascivious smirk. "Course, we could always find another way to amuse ourselves."

"Have you ever heard a decent pick-up line?" Kyla asked Kazehana, unimpressed, completely ignoring the men.

"There are plenty of decent pick-up lines, Kyla. Just very few decent men to use them." She said with a slight smirk.

"Baby, we don't need pick-up lines. How about we just show you how good we ar-" ***THWACK***

The three women stared in shock at the one man who had given the speaker of the group a right cross.

"Aren't we supposed to beat them up?" Musubi asked in confusion.

"My apologies." The man said with a low bow. "Whilst I am willing to commit certain crimes, there are lines that no one should cross."

"An interesting place to draw the line." Kazehana said with a raised eyebrow. "What does the line consist of?"

"No physical harm to others. And don't do anything you don't need to do." The man said seriously.

"Why do you need to rob an electronics store?" Kyla demanded.

"Because I can get more money for a TV to pay for food for my family."

"You don't have a job?"

"Between the Yakuza and MBI black balling me, I can't even beg on the streets." The man snorted. The others were nodding behind him.

"Was this when Minaka Hiroto was in charge?" Kyla asked.

"Yes, the bastard." The man spat.

"Go back to MBI and plead your case. The new management is still working on fixing the crimes of the old." Kyla instructed. "They might be able to help you."

"All corporate bastards are the same!" A man in the back shouted.

"Hey! Y-"

Musubi was halted by a hand from Kazehana. "We gave you the option. Take that one to the police." She indicated the crumpled man on the floor. "Tell them what he was going to do. Tell them the Disciplinary Squad sent you. If you choose to go to MBI you may benefit, if you don't… then you have no one to blame but yourselves.

"Come ladies."

"But aren't we going to hit them?" Musubi whined plaintively as they walked away from the bewildered group.

"Maybe you can hit the next ones." Kyla laughed as she followed Kazehana up onto the rooftops.

"He got to hit some one." Musubi pouted as she followed them.

* * *

"You made a mistake coming here Gaijin." The man in a suit said with a sadistic smile. He was surrounded by other men with everything from brass knuckles to the latest in sub-machine guns.

Xander had been working with Akitsu and X-23 to help the shopkeepers in one of the poorer areas of the city when they were confronted by what was clearly the local chapter of the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Xander said as he hopped from foot to foot like an excited child.

"You realise that if you don't call Wolverine in he'll never let us hear the end of it?" Laura pointed out.

"Fine, call him in." He grumbled. "Hey, you! Soon-To-Be-Dead guy. You might want to call in some backup, there aren't enough of you at the moment to go around." Xander called to the leader.

"You think this is a joke, Gaijin?" The man spat. "You will suf-"

"Yes, yes, we suffer the wrath of the mighty Yakuza and all will see us and learn from our mistakes." Xander rolled his eyes. "Stop wasting time and call in more people!"

To emphasise his point he pulled out his lightsabre and ignited it.

The Yakuza paled.

* * *

Loki and Amara were working with Takami to coordinate the incoming emergency supplies from North Korea. There had been a little bit of a pissing contest with the Chief of Police but that was quickly sorted by a phone call from the Prime Minister. Airplanes were soon landing and rolling out pallets of blankets, clean water and long life food.

The military had been mobilised to begin distribution, Manuel and Jamie supplemented their numbers, much to the confusion and fear of the Japanese… again, another phone call sorted out any problems.

"Ladies! How can I help?"

"Flash, what are you doing here?" Loki asked.

"People are hurt and need help. What's the point of being a hero if I don't step up?" The Flash shrugged.

"Go to Jonathan and Martha. They are working the remote areas of the city and the farms, help them find the injured." Amara instructed.

"Yes ma'am!" He saluted before he vanished in a blur.

* * *

"WHO'S IDEA WAS IT TO ASK THEM TO BRING REINFORCEMENTS?" X-23 screamed at her partners in the fight as they hid behind conjured metal walls.

It was bad enough the Yakuza had pulled out another thirty men, but they were all sporting assault rifles, two light machine guns and some jackass with an RPG. They couldn't raise their heads without being shot at.

"GRAND FATHER!" Akitsu shouted back helpfully.

"IT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION SWEETIE." Xander hollered over the sound of gunfire.

"_Why the hell are you all shouting?"_ Wolverine asked mentally as he hauled his badly shot up carcass behind Laura's shield.

"_Because Xander's stupidity is catching."_ X-23 said with a snide look to her father-in-law.

"_Didn't you and Harry take out groups larger than this on your own?"_ Wolverine asked.

"_Yes, but Harry isn't here. I can do something though. Give me some covering fire as a distraction."_

* * *

"GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

"Calm down!" Jonathan scowled at the frantically hopping Flash. "Its just manure. Didn't you land in a sewer once?"

The Flash suddenly stopped his hopping and pointed a threatening finger at the farmer. "We are _never_ to speak of that!"

"It was in the newspaper."

"Never. To. Speak. Of. It."

Jonathan sighed. It was almost as bad as dealing with Harry and Xander.

* * *

Xander had managed to employ tactics used previously by himself and Harry to take out some of the bigger guns. He had walked under the ground and come up behind them and neutralised them. They couldn't phase and be invisible as the Yakuza would simply open fire on where the threat seemed to come from which meant they were stuck like that.

Now they had an additional problem.

Super Sumo Man.

At least that's what Xander was calling him.

The man was twice as big as any regular sumo wrestler and appeared to be impervious to magic and physical trauma, every time Xander, Wolverine or X-23 got close he would either backhand them away or pile-drive them into the ground. Xander was forced to stay back with Akitsu.

It didn't help that they were still firing bullets at them.

"We may be in over our heads here." Xander grimaced from behind another set of conjured walls.

"I can't believe you haven't dealt with this yet." Superman scowled as he floated down.

"Hey, we were just about to call you." X-23 smiled.

"We were?" Wolverine muttered a bit insulted.

"Face it, Wolverine, we are clearly out classed." Xander pressed.

"They can't be that tough to deal with." Superman insisted.

"They had RPGs and now they have that Super Sumo!" Xander said defensively.

Superman sighed and turned to Akitsu. "Can you freeze the ground beneath them? Make it very slippery?"

"Water would make it easier." She admitted.

"One of you call in Tsukiumi or start conjuring water over them." Superman instructed.

"I'll do it." Xander grumbled. "Considering our competence is being questioned, no need to add more fuel to the fire." He began shooting a jet of water up into the air in an arc.

"You two, go behind them and conjure a wall, preferably metal but make sure it is very strong." He instructed Wolverine and X-23.

"Come on Dad." X-23 smiled, she was proud of Superman taking charge.

"Don't call me that!" Wolverine whined as X-23 grabbed him and they vanished.

"Can we really stop them Uncle?" Akitsu asked quietly.

Superman smiled at her softly. As Harry considered him his little brother that meant he held respect in the eyes of Sekirei like Akitsu who considered Harry a father. Even Mutsu called him Uncle.

"I think they were just a little shocked at the tactics they were being assaulted with. I observed what was happening for a moment before I joined you here. My plan should work, but we have plenty of alternatives if necessary." He assured her.

"Alright, the bad guys are soaked and so is the ground." Xander announced. "Do your thing sweetie."

Akitsu nodded and stood up fully trusting Superman to protect her from the bullets. She began freezing the floor at her feet, watching as it thickened and spread to the ground beneath the gunmen and Super Sumo.

Wolverine and X-23 had their wall in place and Xander tapped her shoulder so she knew to stop.

Once Superman was sure Akitsu was safe with Xander he planted his feet facing the Yakuza and inhaled deeply before literally blowing the gangsters off their feet.

Except Super Sumo.

The man was just standing there grinning. "Time to find out who is stronger Gaijin." The obese man grinned evilly.

Superman produced his hammer, he had no intention of causing lot's of property damage by engaging the man, there was plenty enough with the earthquake and bullet damage.

Superman summoned the full might of his divine powers as the clouds turned pitch black and the air turned electric. Every electronic device in the area that was still active was instantly fried as the ambient air crackled.

Superman man held out his left hand to his side as his right held his hammer high. "Akitsu, come to me quickly."

The woman leapt into the hovering hero's arms.

Xander, Wolverine and X-23 all had one thought going through their minds as they realised what was about to happen. They couldn't teleport, phase or fly as the electricity was interfering with their magic.

"Ah shit." They all muttered just before a lightning bolt the diameter of a redwood tree struck the Super Sumo lighting up his skeletal system and branching out to the other downed Yakuza.

Superman held his concentrated bolt for ten seconds before he released it and the Super Sumo fell to the floor… unconscious.

"I think you killed Grandfather." Akitsu said calmly from Superman's arms.

Superman winced as he saw Xander's body nearby. "Oops."

He lowered them to the ground carefully. "You better be sticking around Xander. I'll get Harry here." He ordered to where he could feel Xander's soul.

* * *

"Why didn't you just teleport out?" Clark asked as they were all resting in the castle living room that afternoon. School was a bust for the day but Terrence was on the ball and substitute teachers were arranged for the missing X-Men.

"You saturated the area with electricity Clark." Laura said exasperatedly. "We had no choice but to stand there and take it."

"Oh right, electricity and magic don't get along." Clark said with a red face. "I'll try and give you a warning next time."

"Generous." Logan grunted sarcastically.

"You're a menace Clark." Phoebe scowled from where she was seated behind Akitsu who was sitting on the floor in front of Celeste who was trying to fix her hair.

"Laura's abilities meant her hair fixed itself. " Mindee said snappishly.

"Poor Akitsu is going to need so much conditioning!" Celeste moaned as she struggled with the static mess.

Clark just rolled his eyes before looking up at the ceiling. "Aphrodite, if you have a moment we could use your special touch."

"I'm sorry Clark, but there is absolutely nothing I can do for that mess." She said as she gazed at Harry's hair. "Logan on the other hand…" She trailed off with a smirk.

"Nothing doin' lady." Logan said worriedly.

"Can you help Akitsu, I… frizzed her hair accidentally."

"Come on ladies, let's have the afternoon to ourselves." Aphrodite smiled. There were cheers as the female contingent in the room filed out.

"I think I might just love your girlfriend Clark." Xander said with fake tears.

"She is the Goddess of Love." Clark shrugged.

"Come on, we might as well go and deal with Miss Baker." Harry sighed as he levered himself off the sofa.

* * *

"Vision? I thought Bruce was handling warden duty whilst we were out." Scott said as they entered the dungeon.

"He requested I take over when he realised he was about to kill Coach Arnold." The Vision stated calmly. "Naturally I agreed."

"Still don't know why the bastard is living." Logan growled. "You said yourself his soul is bad." He glared at Harry.

"Take it up with Mr. Righteous over there." He jabbed a finger back at Jonathan who blanched at the looks Logan and Vision were giving him.

"Mr. Kent, you are aware that Harry Potter only grants your request because he wishes it?" The Vision asked curiously. "If he chose to eradicate the being known as Walt Arnold, no one could stop him."

"What if he can be rehabilitated?" Jonathan argued weakly.

"History has shown that Harry knows when a person can be rehabilitated. It has been proven many times. Often to the detriment of innocent people."

"John-Boy, the only difference between keeping the bastard locked up and having Harry destroy him is that _you_ are making him suffer imprisonment." Logan explained gruffly. "Harry does his thing and Arnold won't feel anything ever again… and neither will anyone else because of him."

"I'll feel something." Jonathan said quietly.

"Dad, I must of killed fifty people today. It wasn't quick, it wasn't painless." Clark said seriously. "But I will get over it because I know that they were evil people and that by killing them I have not only avenged their victims but I have saved their future victims.

"That cell could be used by someone deserving and capable of rehabilitation."

"I find it intriguing that Harry has acquiesced to your demands." The Vision said thoughtfully. "Why is this Harry?"

"Because Jonathan is a good man." Harry said seriously. "There might come a time in the future where he needs to step out of his comfort zone for the good of others. Hard decisions might need to be made and this is a hard decision. Walt Arnold dies on Jonathan's word or of old age."

"I don't think I'm capable of ordering a man's death." Jonathan said, unconsciously taking a step back.

"Not now you aren't." Clark said with a soft smile. "But a year ago I wasn't ready to kill either. I guess there is a reason Time is an Aspect."

* * *

"Why don't you stay on Earth so much, Aphrodite?" Yume asked as the girls sat in large hot tub relaxing.

"I have duties to attend to. Just like you do. But my duties are more easily performed from Mount Olympus, from there I can view the mortal realm more easily and be more effective."

"Are we going to have more problems with Alicia Baker and women like her?" Kyla asked.

"Possibly. Alicia is damaged, as Harry and Clark are finding out right now her parents treated her fairly badly and she is a product of that treatment. Fortunately she can overcome that period of her life if she is strong enough."

"So a spray bottle and rolled up newspaper won't cut it?" Kyla pouted.

"I wouldn't say that." Aphrodite smirked. "She needs to learn about boundaries and she needs to learn that her powers are not a loophole through the laws."

"Harry isn't going to… go biblical on her is he?" Chloe asked with a small amount of trepidation.

Lorna laughed. "Harry is not as bad as you seem to think he is. He's been doing this sort of thing longer than any of us. He's been doing is since he was younger than Chiho." She indicated the fourteen-year-old Ashikabi who was snuggled against Uzume.

"What _will_ he do?" Homura asked curiously.

"That depends on her history and motives. You can't apply cookie cutter solutions to humans."

* * *

"Seems like Miss Baker was telling the truth." Sheriff Adams scowled as she looked around the lead painted room in the basement of the Baker's home.

Alicia had told the men her story, she didn't really see any reason not to as she had very little empathy. The reason why was made clear.

She told them she gained her abilities when she was caught in the meteor storm. Her parents then locked her in a room lined with lead and wouldn't let her out even though she begged them.

Scott had immediately called the Sheriff and Alicia was moved out of the dungeon and into a room in the castle. She was still under the watchful eyes of Xander and Logan.

"You care to explain why you locked a toddler in a room like this for most of her life?" Scott demanded of the Bakers.

"We didn't know what to do!" The father said fearfully. "She could vanish and reappear anywhere! What would you do?" He challenged.

"Teach her. Talk to her. Treat her like my daughter. Need I go on?" Harry asked calmly.

* * *

Alicia Baker was officially in the custody Lorna and her school. But first they decided it was time to enlighten the Sheriff about the truth of the town.

"I'm a busy woman Doctor Potter." Adams snapped in her no nonsense manner. "What did you want me here for?"

"You must have noticed the unusually incidents that occur in this town by now? The impossible seems to occur all to frequently."

"I've noticed a few things, including the fact that this town is the focal point for a lot Supers. Green Lantern, Superman, The Flash… any more you care to add?"

"Lots." Harry nodded. "But they aren't the reason I called you here. You know about the Meteor Storm over a decade ago, you obviously know about the Kryptonite and it's dangerous properties. What isn't widely known is that Kryptonite has a mutating effect on humans. No overt physical changes for the most part, but they develop… abilities."

"Like powers? That would explain a lot." She nodded.

"Yes, they are responsible for a lot of the more unusual crimes… and unfortunately… the murders."

"All of the infected are capable of this?"

"No, not all. But, as the saying goes, power corrupts."

"So this is a school for these people, these infected. You wouldn't be showing me this if you were doing something illegal." She said at Harry's raised eyebrow.

"The school is legal. It is a safe house where we teach the kids control so that they can live amongst the rest of the population but also we teach them how to benefit from their abilities on a day-to-day basis."

"And which part is going to make me arrest you?" She asked shrewdly.

"The dungeons."

The Sheriff's hand immediately went to her gun as the scenery changed to the stone affair of the dungeons.

"What the blue blazes just happened Potter?" She hissed.

Harry smiled. "You didn't think the students were the only ones with powers and abilities, did you?"

* * *

The Sheriff needed a day or two off after all the revelations about magic, meteor-infected and… Death. She was never more embarrassed when Clark confessed he was Superman though. She couldn't look him in the eye after that.

Alicia was under guard whilst out of the castle for the time being. She wasn't forbidden from teleporting, just from teleporting in front of others. She was also given a very stern warning about Clark and that he was taken and that any new girlfriends had to be approved by the current ones.

She already had one strike against her because she knew he was with Kyla and still made a move. The main warnings had come from two very irate blondes.

"What makest thou think thou can just come in and steal my husband?" Tsukiumi demanded of the teenage girl as they confronted her in entrance hall of the castle.

"H- H- Husband?!" Alicia stammered.

"He has claimed me as his own and I share his hearth and home. I lay in his bed with his other wives."

"Other wives!"

"Maybe not by your primitive mortal standards, but my mother, Hera recognises them as married. The only reason I am not included is because we have yet to consummate our love. Though I do share his bed at times." Aphrodite said haughtily.

"Wait! If he has more than one girlfriend and wife, why are you upset with me?" Alicia asked heatedly.

"Because, little girl, you didn't know this when you attempted to have an affair with my husband!" Tsukiumi growled in her face.

"You are a home-wrecker, Miss Baker. Change your ways and we may let Clark look at you. Otherwise I will curse you to never find love." Aphrodite threatened.

"Shouldn't Clark have a say in this?"

"Clark already has had his say. As far as he is concerned he won't even look at another person without our approval."

"I think she's gotten the point, ladies." Alicia was startled as she hadn't even noticed Kyla standing slightly behind the two blondes. "You've laid out the rules and told her what she did wrong. If she wants Clark to notice her she will just have to make sure she remembers this conversation."

Both women nodded.

"Very well, but I will carry out my promise if she continues her cheating ways." Aphrodite warned.

"Of course Goddess." Kyla said with a bow.


	46. Chapter 46

Miss Alice was conspicuously absent from the school, the new teacher was revealed when Chiho's class had the first economics lesson after the LuthorCorp fiasco.

They were surprised when the school quarterback, Clark Kent, walked into the classroom and stood by the whiteboard.

"The chances that you don't know who I am are very slim." Clark began. "For those of you who have managed to live under a rock, I am Clark Kent. I am now a former pupil of this school and the former starting quarterback for the school team.

"You are probably wondering why a jock is standing in the teachers spot for an economics class. I need a volunteer."

Clark looked around the class; he didn't want Chiho for this one. "Ah, Casey, come up here to my desk."

They young girl nervously walked up to the desk where the school hero stood smiling. "Are you any good with computers and search engines?"

She shrugged, too nervous to speak.

"Well, what I want you to do is go to the website for the Japanese company MBI and find the information on the owner of the company. We will be watching on the projector." He indicated the digital projector connected to the laptop on his desk: the teacher's desk.

This did not improve her nerves but she bravely took her seat and started her search.

"How many of you have heard of MBI?" Clark asked the rest of the class.

Every hand went up.

"How many of you own something made by MBI?"

About seventy percent of the hands went up.

"So you are aware that MBI is a global company that is based in Japan. Tokyo, specifically."

There were some head nods.

Clark jabbed a finger at the board where the results of Casey's search were displayed, Casey was staring at the computer with an open mouth.

"That is why I am teaching this class today." Clark said. "I am the owner of MBI, I also own most of Matheson Industries. I count amongst my friends Harry Potter and Bruce Wayne of Wayne Industries, the Prime Minister of Japan and the ruler of North Korea, also the Queen of the Amazons.

"Your task for the day is to use your computers to find out as much accurate information as you can about me. Find out business facts and make sure you double-check your sources and their authenticity. Having accurate information about a business and its key players is important when working in economics. Type your findings in a document and save it to your drive and I will mark it online."

* * *

"How did I do Chiho?" Clark asked once they were alone in the classroom.

"You were a teacher. But you have always been a teacher or a leader." She said simply.

"I've always been a farm boy." Clark contested lightly. "Since I've met Harry I've been thrown into the role of guardian for an entire town… and now the world. I've never taught someone before."

"I know that is false. Ryan speaks happily about what you taught him, Kusano as well." She replied.

"Well I don't know if this is my calling, if you will. But it felt good. I will only be handling the class for a few weeks until they find a better teacher."

"I might know someone, but they do not know English." Chiho frowned.

"Oh?"

"Kochou, Number 22. She is very gifted and likes to deal with businesses."

"Right, Kakizaki's Sekirei. From Higa's empire." Clark nodded.

When he had taken over the company from Higa he had all the Ashikabi's serving Higa confined until the telepaths could clear them. Kakizaki was a typical sycophantic minion; he obeyed whoever held the most power, which was now Clark. But none of them were happy to let the man be an Ashikabi so Harry had severed the bond in Kochou's favour and sent Kakizaki away to live his life with a damaged soul as punishment.

Kochou was one of the Lost Sekirei. She was waiting to find her Ashikabi and purpose in life.

Chiho nodded. "Not all Ashikabis can be Japanese, you, Logan and Harry are not Japanese. Maybe this will give her the chance to find her Ashikabi here."

Clark had to agree that keeping the unbound Sekirei in Tokyo was severely limiting their chances.

"Alright, we'll go and talk to her after school." Clark decided.

"We?"

"It was your idea." Clark smirked.

* * *

Later that night there was a mental message sent out to all magicals from Helen.

"_I've got a teenager in the hospital with a Kryptonite enhanced bomb holding everyone hostage. I could use some help."_

"_Dad and I are en route."_ Harry sent back.

"You want me to disarm it?" Xander asked Harry.

"If you can. I will try and talk the kid down."

"Disarm what?" Clark asked.

"Kryptonite bomb. Some kid at the hospital is threatening to blow the place."

"Need any help?"

"From you? Mister I-Become-A-Useless-Heap-Around-Green-Glowing-Rocks ?"

Clark blushed. "I'll start my patrol of Metropolis."

* * *

"Garrett! You want to explain what you think you are doing?" Harry demanded as he stood twenty feet away from the young Garrett Davis.

"Dr. Potter? I said no one was allowed in!"

"I work here kid. When I'm not at the school I'm here. Now why are you threatening all these innocent people?"

"My brother is dying! Or- he died but then he came back- he needs a liver transplant- if he doesn't get it… we all die." Garrett said with tear filled eyes.

"And where did you plan on getting a liver? One that has been type-matched for your brother and isn't currently in use?" Harry snapped. "Why do all these people deserve to suffer because you can't accept the natural order of life?"

"Natural order? That's my brother!" Garrett shouted.

"Yes you little idiot! He was born, he lives and like all things he will now die. The only thing that separates us is _how_ we die!"

"Not if he gets a liver!"

"Again, where do you intend to get a liver?"

Garrett thought about that for a second. "There have to be livers here."

"Sure." Harry shrugged. "Couple of hundred. Each one in use and only a fraction of them is any good for your brother."

"Then find someone who is dying and take theirs!"

"Fine, get on a gurney and I'll remove your liver and put it in your brother."

"What?"

"You are the most likely candidate for a liver donor as a living relative. If you want your brother to live so badly then surely you are willing to give him yours."

"I- I don't want to die."

"Well neither does anyone else. I'll bet your brother doesn't want to either. So, your options are simple. You can let your brother die, which will be entirely your fault by the way, or you can sacrifice yourself.

"Tell me, what would your brother do?" Harry asked.

Garrett was clearly conflicted, he knew his brother wouldn't understand and would disappointed… maybe even hate him for what he was doing.

"Times ticking Garrett. Every second you have that bomb strapped to you is another second your liver is being damaged by the Kryptonite." Harry said calmly. It wasn't entirely true but he didn't want Garrett thinking too hard.

"Fine! Do it. Take my liver and give it to Vince." He said in a highly stressed voice. "But I keep the bomb and I stay awake for the procedure."

"Doesn't work like that Garrett. You can't be awake _and_ hold the bomb. One or the other."

"Make it happen!"

"Science hasn't gotten that far. Now either lose the bomb or lose your brother."

"I want a gun."

"You don't need a gun. I said I would do it and I will. Now stop messing around and lose the bomb before the sharpshooters out there get impatient."

"They shoot me and the bomb goes off."

"I wouldn't rely on that logic to stop them." Harry said dryly. "You do realise you are standing right in the line of a sniper's perfect shot?"

Garrett suddenly dived to the left behind a gurney as a bullet tore through the glass window behind Harry and through the space he was just occupying.

Then he panicked as he realised he had released his dead-man's switch.

"Oh god oh god oh god! We're all gonna die!" He panicked.

"Eventually yes. But next time you build a bomb, ask an expert to check it." Harry smirked.

Meanwhile Xander Harris just stood there invisibly watching the whole thing with a smile as he enjoyed his son's work.

"Now lose the damned bomb so I can do the transplant." Harry ordered.

"You- You'll still do it?" Garrett was now sweating heavily.

"I said I would and I will." Harry said seriously.

* * *

"I want that sharpshooter down here now!" Sheriff Adams barked angrily. Beside her stood Clark Kent and Scott Summers.

"I assume he didn't hit his target?" Clark asked.

"Xander says he moved within seconds of being shot." Scott reported.

"How the hell did he know to do that?" Adams demanded.

"The telepaths are monitoring the snipers." Scott explained. "They warned Harry that one of them had an itchy trigger finger and he made some comments that made the boy move. Beyond that… luck."

"Which is not an Aspect… amazingly." Clark said with some mild disbelief.

"Situation has been resolved." Scott said suddenly. "Harry is taking the boy to surgery to do a liver transplant for the brother."

"What? That boy needs to be locked up!"

"He will be, after Harry has managed to save one more life today."

"Dammit." The Sheriff swore unhappily. "Where is the bomb?"

"Lana and Helen have it and are waiting for the bomb squad to come and retrieve it." Scott answered. "But we have to wait for the phone call first, unless you want your men to think _you_ have telepathy."

* * *

"Excuse me, this is a secure site. Do you have authorisation to be down here?" The Vision was currently disguised as an African-American male whilst he was working on the Kawatche Caves and the Kryptonian technology housed there.

He was not pleased when he found someone wandering around when the place was supposed to be deserted.

"And you are?"

The Vision shouldn't have been surprised to see that it was Lionel Luthor who was calmly walking around as though he owned the place.

"Authorised to be here, unlike you. Please leave before you have to be escorted off the premises."

"No need to be hasty, I assure you. I-"

"No doubt have lots to say but none of it worth anything." The Vision was surprised that Clark was the one who responded to his discrete message. Although in hindsight, Clark was probably one of the few of the natives in this universe to always wear an Avengers transmitter.

"Ah, Mr. Kent. I was wondering if I might find you down here."

"Out Lionel. You have no business here, you are trespassing." Clark said firmly.

"Manners Mr. Kent." Lionel said tightly. "Always remember your manners."

"Manners are for civilised people, I don't waste them on people like you." Clark said as he started walking towards Lionel.

"I would suggest you don't touch meeeEEEE!" Lionel squealed as Clark ignored him and dragged him away from The Vision by the back of his jacket; Lionel's heels were leaving tracks in the floor.

The Vision watched on in mild amusement.

* * *

In Metropolis a new train system had been installed and was being unveiled that very day. On board were all manner of reporters and politicians. The train was unique in that it used magnets to essentially hover over the track and provide a frictionless means of travel but it was propelled by a couple of scaled down jet engines and capable of speeds upwards of 300mph. The average citizen thought it was a waste of money and a danger as anything travelling at that speed was likely to cause disruption in the city and a single accident could take out a large swath.

Tonight was its maiden journey and it would be a show case ride as it reached its maximum safe speed of 350mph.

The journey started well enough with photos and congratulations to the designers and the company that built it, namely LuthorCorp. Lionel and Lex had begged off boarding the train due to prior engagements. This would raise some interesting questions in the press no doubt.

After about ten minutes the train began its acceleration, within five minutes it had reached 350mph.

Within seven minutes it reached 400mph.

It wasn't slowing down.

"Didn't this happen in an episode of the Simpsons?" X-23 asked as she stood next to Superman on one of the nearby skyscrapers.

Superman looked at her with an amused look.

"I like comedy." She shrugged unrepentantly.

"How did they stop it?"

"In the Simpsons? Lucky shot with a makeshift anchor."

"Right, cartoon physics." Superman muttered.

"Says the man who can lift large objects into orbit." She retorted teasingly.

"Any ideas on how to stop this train? If we try anything physical it will be torn to pieces and people will die." Superman said seriously.

"You could take out the engines at the back. Let it slow down on its own."

"If I don't take them out simultaneously I risk derailing the train."

"Is Green Lantern on the planet?"

"Why?" Superman asked curiously.

"Well…"

* * *

Whilst Superman and X-23 were dealing with a run away train, Martha and Jonathan had their own issues to deal with. A team of FBI agents had stormed onto their property and started tearing the place to pieces. They were now trying to keep Ryan calm with all the disturbing minds around.

"You had better have a damned good reason for being in my town without informing me." Sheriff Adams snarled as she drove up with Amara.

"This is a Federal issue and doesn't concern local law enforcement." The lead agent said as he approached.

"I want to see the warrant." Amara demanded.

The paper was handed over and Amara immediately pulled out her phone.

"Who are you calling?" The agent asked.

"Washington. Need to verify this warrant."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." The Agent stated calmly as he snatched the phone away.

"Now see here! You had better explain yourself or I will have you hauled in for assault." Adams said loudly.

"Don't worry Sheriff, he's not really FBI." Amara smirked. "Too bad for him, because this is really going to hurt."

"Just stay put girl. We'll be done soon-"

"Sir!"

"What?!" The Agent demanded angrily.

"Sir, you'd better see this."

The Agent turned from a grinning Amara and fairly annoyed and exasperated Sheriff to see his men backing out of the house with their guns trained on an impressive array of women dressed in short black Japanese style dresses holding katanas.

"You have attacked our friends." The purple-haired one stated coldly. She had glowing wings that looked like they were made of solid light. "Allow us to respond in kind."

What happened next was a blur. A blur that lasted less than five seconds and ended with about thirty fired bullets and lots of unconscious men on the floor.

The lead agent just watched in horror as the purple-haired woman advanced on him.

"The Japanese people do not appreciate it when their friends and family are attacked. You have two choices. You can talk, or we can _make_ you talk."

"He wants the second one." Amara whispered loudly over the man's shoulder.

* * *

Hal wasn't on the planet but he had access to magical powers as did the rest of the Corp thanks to Harry and he and Sinestro were quickly on scene to help out.

"What's the plan?" Hal asked as they watched the train get faster, it was currently nearing 600mph.

"Can your rings create a frictionless surface?" X-23 asked.

"They produce energy in any form we wish." Sinestro answered.

"Superman will detach a section of track far ahead of the train, you two duplicate the track sending it into the sky. Send it in circles whilst it's up there. Whilst that happens Superman will begin detaching the carriages one by one and placing them on the ground."

"Can you two take out the engines at the back simultaneously without causing a disruption?" Superman asked.

Hal and Sinestro shared a look before Hal shrugged. "Probably. It would be easier to board the train and just disconnect the fuel line though."

"I can't get on the train with disturbing the airflow and causing problems. Hal, you know the most about jets, can you do it?"

"Sure."

"Can I ask why you do not do so yourself?" Sinestro asked X-23.

"We want to limit the exposure of more 'heroes'. We especially want to keep magic quiet for a bit longer. If one of you phases through the train people will assume it is a standard ability of the Green Lanterns. Which it is, now." She finished with a smirk.

"Let's get to work then." Hal said as he took to the air and shot off.

"Impetuous human." Sinestro muttered in annoyance. "Is there anything else we should know?"

"Not that we can think of." Superman answered.

* * *

It had been some time since the train had escaped control, in that time an elite team of military personnel where closely watching the situation.

"It's been too long Luthor. The train has breached 600 miles per hour and there hasn't a whisper of a so called 'superhero'." General Lane said tightly to the man to his left, Lionel Luthor.

"Patience General. The potential disaster is more than enough to bring one of those bleeding heart aliens to the scene."

"And if it doesn't the 'potential disaster' will take out a large swath of Metropolis." Lane countered. "I'm giving it five minutes and then we are shutting this down."

"And what exactly are you going to say to the press? How are you going to explain that this runaway train suddenly came back under control?" Lionel challenged.

"Simple, we can just say that one of the passengers managed to disable the engines. I am not letting that thing break the sound barrier."

"I thought you were stronger than this General." Lionel said with disappointment.

"Spare me your patronising Luthor. What I am is clearly smarter than you." The General said dismissively.

"General, we have contacts." A nearby soldier called out from his station.

"Who?"

"Two Green Lanterns and Superman."

"Three of them?"

"Yes sir. The human Lantern has broken off and is heading for the train."

"If they have a plan already then they must have been nearby all this time." The General frowned. "Find out why we couldn't detect them before this."

"There is another possible explanation." Lex said from where he was reclining in the General's chair nearby. "Maybe they were monitoring the situation from their base and only left when they had their plan formulated."

"A base?!" Lane said in horror. "You have any proof of this, Junior?"

"It's Mr. Luthor, Lex if you need to distinguish myself from my father." Lex scowled.

"Answer the question."

"No proof, just a simple amount of logic. It's truly not surprising your people didn't think of it." He said condescendingly.

The General span around to face the men stationed at the array of monitors and computers. "I want people tracking these aliens every millisecond. I want to know where they go when they are done, I want to know where they call home!"

"Sir, the train is losing speed."

"How?"

"The human Green Lantern entered the train and shut down the engines, sir."

"How did he get in without breaching the hull and causing decompression?" Lionel demanded.

"He appeared to phase through the hull, sir."

"Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant." The General swore. "Another ability these monsters have displayed."

"Sir… the Superman is stopping the train." The soldier said hesitantly.

"Yes we expected that." The Lane said dismissively.

"With his index finger sir."

"What?" Lane spun to the man's screen and saw what was happening.

True enough, Superman was flying backwards in front of the train whilst putting a single index finger on the nose and pushing.

"How is he not buckling the metal?!"

"I don't believe he is using much force at all sir. It might take another twenty minutes at this rate but he will stop the train this way."

"Without causing a single bit of damage to the hull." Lex said with a frown. "Do you think he knows this is a set up?"

"How? Most of Washington doesn't know about my department." Lane said.

"I suppose it all depends on what he has in his base." Lionel said in a bored tone.

"I may have a lead on that, I don't wish to say anything more at the moment but I may have stumbled upon something in my files." Lex said with a pointed look at his father. They weren't his files; they were his original's.

* * *

"A finger?" Hal asked in amusement as he and Sinestro flew down to meet Superman at the station where he had forced the train to stop.

"It was all I needed." Superman shrugged.

"Superman! Superman! How were you able to stop the train with just a finger?" A reporter called out.

"I just slowed it down. Green Lantern did the hard part by boarding the train and turning the engines off."

"Green Lantern!"

"Which one?" Hal asked with a smirk.

"Erm… you?"

"What?"

"Do you have any comment to make about the train system?"

"Yeah, it is the dumbest idea I have ever heard of. That thing has a nuclear generator, if I hadn't shut it down then it would have run for years and broken the sound barrier. LuthorCorp has a lot of explaining to do and so do the people who authorised the construction." Hal said seriously.

"Let's go." Superman told the two Lanterns.

The trio sped into the sky eventually hitting orbit where Hal grabbed Superman and teleported away with him.

* * *

"DAMMIT!" Lane cursed.

"They probably travel like that on purpose in order to avoid being tracked." Lex said unconcernedly. "If you really want to track them you will have to tag them with a device."

"Do we even _have_ anything that they won't detect or will survive their teleporting ability?" Lionel asked.

"If we don't then you two had better figure one out." Lane snarled at the two billionaires. "This whole fiasco was a waste of time."

"I wouldn't say that, General." Lex said as he stood and walked over to the large table in the centre of the room. It doubled as a horizontal touch screen display and he brought up images of the three 'heroes'. "We learnt that they have the ability to work as a team. Other than the day-to-day crime we have never seen them act alone. Maybe we should investigate a new strategy, divide and conquer?"

* * *

Clark, Hal and Sinestro landed at the castle in civilian wear. Hal had cast a few glamours over Sinestro so he could pass for human. They were greeted by Laura.

"Nice work gentlemen." She smiled. "I thought you were going to have to move the whole train, I take it the engines were simpler than you thought?" She asked Hal.

"No, they were more dangerous." Hal frowned. "Nuclear powered trains? It was like watching Chernobyl on wheels."

"What did you do with the nuclear materials?" Clark asked.

"I teleported them out to space and pushed them towards the sun."

"Oh… I really hope it doesn't cause solar flares." Clark said worriedly.

"Oops, I forgot about that." Hal winced.

"As good as it is to visit with you we must be getting back to our patrol." Sinestro said respectfully.

"Many thanks for your help, both of you." Laura said with an incline of her head, which Sinestro returned. "Safe journeys to you both."

"And to you." Sinestro said before he placed a hand on Hal's shoulder and they disappeared.

"Where is everybody?" Clark asked.

"You're going to love this." Laura laughed as she grabbed Clark and teleported them.

They arrived outside the Kent house to see the Sekirei standing guard over the so-called FBI men.

"Did someone declare war on us?" Clark asked as they walked up to Amara, Jonathan, Martha and Sheriff Adams.

"They were searching for something." Amara answered. "The Key."

"From my ship?"

"Apparently, Lionel sent them."

"We need to increase security around the Kawatche Caves. Lionel was down there the other day, The Vision isn't always down there so he may have been down there before." Clark said.

"What are you planning on doing then?"

"We're waiting for people from the State Department to arrive with the Japanese Ambassador." Amara explained. "All Kents are covered by diplomatic immunity."

"Where's Ryan?" Clark asked suddenly.

"He's at the castle with the others." Martha answered. "He's the one who told us what they were looking for, Jean is trying to work with him to clear his mind as these men had some… evil thoughts." She glared at the hogtied group.

"I don't suppose these men are going to confess willingly and point the finger at Luthor?" Clark asked.

"They were paid enough and have plenty of faith that Luthor will get them out." Amara said tiredly.

"I supposed it would be a shame if they all suddenly felt _compelled_ to tell the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth." Clark said glibly.

The four magicals shared a look.

"Why don't you tell the Sheriff about your adventures in Metropolis, Clark." Laura suggested as they stalked towards the men.

"I guess they don't want me to know what they are about to do?" Adams sighed.

Clark grinned at her weakly. "It really is a good story."

* * *

The men masquerading as FBI agents were hauled away by real officials under the critical and disgusted eyes of the Japanese Ambassador who spent most of his time relaying the words of the Japanese Prime Minister. Needless to say the American Officials spent most of their time on the phone getting an earful from the President of the United States.

Lionel Luthor was again hauled in for questioning. Nobody was holding their breath though; the man was more slippery than an eel.

"Musubi, you are spending the day with me." Clark smiled as he greeted his Sekirei and girlfriends at the breakfast table.

"I am?"

"She is?"

Came the assorted responses.

"One of the reasons I quit school was because I wasn't spending enough time with my Sekirei. I spend plenty of time with Kyla at school and after school, but with my patrolling and responsibilities in Tokyo I don't have the time to spend the rest of you."

"Wow, you came up with this all on your own Clark?" Harry asked.

"Yes!" Clark said, slightly annoyed that they doubted him.

"Well, good." Harry nodded in approval. "Have fun."

"Will you be spending a day with each of us, husband?" Tsukiumi asked.

Clark nodded. "I figure I will spend the next few weeks with each of you and then you can join me when you want."

"And I have to sit through boring classes everyday." Kyla lamented.

"Well so do I, so it's not like you will be alone." Lana pointed out. "You three are still staying in school, right?"

She asked the Cuckoos.

"Yes, we'd also prefer if you Amazons stayed in as well. We could use a team within the student body to deal with the kryptonite infected." Phoebe said seriously.

"Agreed." Amara added. "If you wish, you may consider this a task for Amazons." She smiled.

"Better than nothing." Kyla shrugged.

All of the Smallville Amazons where desperate to return to Themiscyra and their sisters. They missed their friends and the whole concept of a tribe answerable to their Queen and Goddesses.

"What are we doing today Clark?" Musubi asked.

"Just hanging around Tokyo for the most part. Dealing with any Sekirei and Ashikabi problems that arise, the usual." Clark shrugged.

"Kazehana, make sure you get him into a suit before he leaves." Kyla instructed.

"What? Why?" Clark asked worriedly.

"Because that is how a man of power should dress, especially if you are photographed." Chiho said with a smile. "You have students at Smallville writing essays on you after all."

"I can't be photographed, Chiho. How will I explain travelling between Tokyo and Smallville in minutes? I still have a few classes left to teach as well, only three today though."

"Oh! Ours is today!" Celeste said happily.

"Should we bring an apple for teacher?" Mindee asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

"How about you just help me get through this without causing a scene?"

"Spoilsport." Kyla muttered.

%

Clark sat behind the desk in his fairly luscious office just off the balcony he shared with the Disciplinary Squads common room at the top of MBI Towers. Behind him stood Musubi who was smiling happily because she was with her Ashikabi. Across the desk, in two chairs, were an Ashikabi and Sekirei: male and female respectively.

"I don't understand why you felt the need to try and sneak out of the city." Clark said in his flawless Japanese. "The rules are simple and designed to allow you as much freedom as possible whilst ensuring your safety and the safety of others. Why didn't you just follow procedure?"

Kazehana and Uzume had tracked the young couple trying to sneak out of the city in the cargo carriage of a train. All Sekirei and Ashikabis had to register travel movements with MBI so that the company and the government could make sure they were safe.

"If you had told us what you wanted we would have arranged transport and accommodation." Clark said wearily.

"We just want to be free! We don't want to fight! We can't fight!" Haruka Shigi, the young Ashikabi said angrily.

"Nobody fights anymore." Clark frowned. "If Sekirei want to fight they have to come to us and fight in a special arena where we monitor them and ensure they don't kill each other."

"Sure, that's what you say, but we've heard the rumours, we've been confronted by other Sekirei and challenged. We know the truth!" Haruka spat.

"Hey! Clark isn't lying!" Musubi said, clearly hurt on Clark's behalf. "He makes sure all the Sekirei are safe."

"Then why did your Disciplinary Squad attack us?" Haruka demanded.

"Attack is a strong word." Clark said calmly. "They apprehended you breaking the law. Now if it had been someone like Miya or Mutsu who came after you, well we might be having this meeting in the hospital."

"They trapped us in those blankets!" Haruka said referring to Uzume's veils.

"You were running away!" Clark countered.

"We told you! We don't want to fight!"

"And we told you! Nobody fights! I am beginning to realise why you keep failing the college entrance exams." Clark sighed.

"Hey!"

"I'm fed up of arguing with you." Clark waved a hand at Haruka dismissively. Instead he turned to the Sekirei, Kuno, who was a very timid young woman. "Kuno, what do _you_ want to do?"

"I- I want to be with Haruka."

"And that won't change." Clark assured her. "But what do you want to do in life, you have plenty of options."

"I don't know… I don't want to keep running, I'm not very good at it." She said nervously as she glanced at Haruka.

Clark pressed a button on the intercom. "Miya, if they are available I could use Mutsu and Kazehana please."

A few moments later the requested Sekirei entered in their uniforms. The only member of the squads who didn't wear the uniform was Uzume, and that was because her costume was her weapon.

"Meet Haruka and Kuno. Haruka is completely convinced that we will force Kuno to fight. Kuno doesn't know what she wants to do in life but I think she needs a rest.

"Kazehana, please take Kuno and pamper her, do whatever you want and charge it to the company. Mutsu, take Haruka and escort him around the building and anywhere else he wants to go. Then bring them both back tomorrow."

"Perhaps it would be best to wait until the morning?" Mutsu suggested. "It is late."

Clark frowned and glanced at the digital clock on the wall. He'd forgotten the time difference. There was an array of clocks for each time zone.

"You're right, Kazehana, take Kuno to get some sleep. But Mutsu, escort Haruka until say, one in the morning, you can continue tomorrow when you are ready."

"Of course Clark. She will sleep like a baby in her mother's arms!" Kazehana cooed happily as she grabbed Kuno between her ample breasts.

"Kazehana, try not to kill her." Clark said pointedly as he pointed out Kuno couldn't breathe.

"Yeah, not everybody can hold their breath as long as Clark." Musubi said innocently, Clark still blushed.

* * *

"Hi Daddy! Hi Akitsu! Hi Dani!"

"Musubi, just Harry out in public, remember?" Harry said with a wince as he checked around for any souls that might have heard Musubi's excited greeting.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I keep forgetting!" She said with a blush.

"So why are you here?" Dani asked with a smile.

"Clark is teaching his class and he said I might be too much of a distraction."

Dani just snorted a laugh. Musubi had changed out of her uniform and into her favourite clothes of a short skirt and shirt. But nothing was going to hide the girl's immense chest. The only reason Akitsu dressed more conservatively was because she still had trouble being apart from Harry. She still worried that he would vanish again and leave her alone.

"What did you get up to this morning?" Harry asked, not wanting to get into the minefield of women's bust sizes.

"Clark had to tell an Ashikabi and Sekirei off because they were trying to sneak out of the city. They kept accusing Clark of making Sekirei fight! Only the Discipline Squad fights and only to protect the Sekirei." She said clearly upset at someone saying Clark was doing something wrong.

"Well Clark can handle it. He's got a good backbone and picks up on how to handle people pretty quickly." Harry assured her.


	47. Chapter 47

They managed four whole days without incident. Clark was a hit as a teacher, although he did have to fend off one or two people looking to date the billionaire teacher. Kyla usually set them straight with help from her friends. The Sekirei had a fairly boring week although Homura had decided to mentor Kuno so she could seek a career in music.

Bruce, Jean and Harry made a few breakthroughs with the meteor radiation and its effects on humans. The Vision, Laura and Brunhilde were now fairly certain that they could handle the AI in the Kawatche caves and not have to worry about it physically affecting the world without their say so.

But then Chloe burst into Emma's office dragging the literature teacher Marianne Taylor and her student son, William, in with her.

"Miss Sullivan… what have you done now?" Emma asked with a condescending smile.

"Not quite sure but Mrs Taylor just made some pretty big confessions and you might want to involve some people." She said breathlessly and slightly panicking.

"What type of confessions?" Emma frowned; Marianne appeared to be in a slight daze.

"You know, nothing big, just admitting that she was part of a group that blew up a bank in the 70's that killed a man… it was just a political thing." She said sarcastically.

"Marianne… Marianne!" Emma said loudly.

"Huh? Miss Frost, what… why am I here?"

"Mr. Taylor, please take your mother and wait outside in the reception. Do not leave the premises until Doctor Potter has examined your mother." She said sternly.

"Yes Miss." William said as he gently led his mother outside worriedly.

Once the door shut Emma's eyes snapped to Chloe.

Chloe jumped in first. "I might have got gassed by something in a LuthorCorp lab last night, that's all I know." She said quickly.

Emma sighed and walked around her desk to stand in front of Chloe. "Ask me a question Miss Sullivan."

Chloe opened her mouth and then shut it awkwardly. "What should I ask?"

"It hardly matters, I will be attempting to lie and if I tell the truth we will know you are the source of Mrs. Taylor's confession and that she hasn't just had a crisis of conscience." Emma said dryly.

"Erm… let's see… what colour is your underwear?"

"I'm not wearing any." Emma said in a slight daze, she then shook her head. "Oh dear."

"You really aren't?!" Chloe asked.

"I hardly think that is the most important fact we should be focusing on!" Emma snapped. "Teleport straight to Jean. Explain the situation and avoid asking questions." She ordered.

"Right." She said before she vanished on the spot.

Emma picked up the phone and began dialling. This was going to be a very annoying day.

* * *

It was a very smug Chloe Sullivan that stalked into the castle hospital wing later that day.

It was a very irritated Jean who greeted her.

"Where have you been?" Jean demanded. "It's been hours since Emma said you were coming."

"I was just getting the final nails for the Luthor's coffins." She said happily.

"What did you do?" Jean asked through clenched teeth.

"I managed to ambush both Lex and Lionel and ask them a few pertinent questions about their history. Did you know Lex is a clone that killed his original?! Did you know that Lionel has had many people killed and actually murdered his parents for money to start his company?! Its terrible I say! Terrible!" She said dramatically.

"And what if you had been captured or your condition had gotten worse? Did you even think to ask the Luthor's about what you were infected with?" Jean asked snidely.

"Oh… I forgot to ask about that." She said lightly chided.

"Get on the table Chloe." Jean said tiredly.

"It can't be that bad, if anything really bad happens Harry can build me a clean body and transfer my soul right?"

"Or you can simply die and be reborn." Jean smirked. "You are a phoenix, remember?"

"I'd like to avoid diapers again." She cringed.

* * *

By the end of the day everyone was informed of Chloe's little adventure. The girl was not entirely pleased when a majority of the castle residents were arrayed around her whilst she lay on a bed in nothing but her bra and panties.

"Can't I get a little privacy?" She asked. "Shouldn't just the doctors be here?"

"Most of us are doctors, sweetie." Dani winked.

"What about the rest of you?"

"We're your sisters." Kyla answered for the amazons.

"I'm your goddess." Aphrodite said with a stern eye.

"I'm… erm…" Clark floundered for an excuse to annoy Chloe.

"Her god." Aphrodite said firmly.

"I am?"

"He is?"

"Can you think of better, a more noble god than Kal-El as male patron and guardian of my daughters?" Aphrodite asked the slightly pink from embarrassment Amazon.

"Baldur!" Chloe blurted.

Brunhilde laughed. "Baldur is indeed a noble god, but he will not view lesser beings the same way Kal-El will. He will be a welcome ally, but a poor substitute for a patron of women."

"I quite agree, but my sword will always be ready to answer the call of Kal-El, the God of Thunder."

The group turned to see the aforementioned Norse God standing there smiling.

"Lord Baldur, it is a pleasure to see you here." Clark said as he bowed slightly.

"Kal-El, we are equals, treat me as such." Baldur chastised with a smile. "In our pantheon my only claim to authority over you is that I am the heir to the throne. However, as the Apprentice of Death, you are equal to my father."

"But I can still kneel before him?" Clark asked worriedly.

Baldur just laughed. "My Lord's and Ladies, I would ask that you allow me to leave with Kal-El, we have things to discuss, we shall be naught but a few hours and I will ensure his safety myself." He addressed the others.

"Try not to destroy too much of the universe boys." Harry waved.

"But do try and enjoy yourselves." Brunhilde added.

Baldur bowed whilst Clark rolled his eyes, both men then turned and left.

"ALRIGHT! THAT'S IT!" Chloe screamed. "Anyone who is not my doctor or responsible for my health leaves now!"

No one moved.

"We are all responsible for your health in some way." Xander smirked.

"All Sekirei out!" She ordered.

"But-"

"Come on Musubi, she is surrounded by people far more powerful than us." Homura chuckled as she led the worried Sekirei out. All of them felt responsible as Chloe was a dear friend of their Ashikabi.

"Anyone who is not participating in… whatever is about to happen to me… out!"

Most of the castle residents left leaving only Jean, Bruce, Aphrodite, Amara, Xander and Harry.

"Why are you still here?" She glared at Xander.

"Consider me part of the punishment detail." He grinned evilly. "I've been dealing with headstrong super-powered girls since before- before… I can't think of anything that adequately compares to millions of years." Xander mused.

"We've been going with: since before civilisation." Harry offered.

"Still, that's less than a million."

"Only on Earth."

"Fine, whatever, you're older than dirt, can't you do that _after_ I'm fixed?" Chloe pleaded.

"Yes, but this is more fun."

Chloe looked at him oddly. "What would your answer have been if I wasn't causing you to tell the truth?"

"The same, but with more emotion and enjoyment." Xander shrugged.

"Come Xander, I have a job in mind for you." Aphrodite said as she linked her arm with his.

"Damn, a beautiful woman. My one weakness." Xander said theatrically.

"Twinkies!" Harry called out.

* * *

Baldur and Clark walked up to the Astronomy Tower whilst Baldur laughed at the various tales Clark told of himself and his friends. Clark took a fairly perverse pleasure in telling stories about Harry. But eventually they reached the top and Baldur became serious.

"I was sent by The All-Father, Kal-El. There is something important you must know… about the Lady Aphrodite, and your… relationship with her." Baldur said with a heavy weariness.

Clark's back stiffened. "I really hope someone isn't about to try and interfere in my relationships." Clark said icily.

Baldur had that caught-off-guard look. Then he started laughing hysterically.

This left Clark fairly off-balance.

"Baldur?!"

"I'm sorry." Baldur gasped. "Its just that the thought of anyone attempting to make yourself… let _alone_ the Lady Aphrodite do something in a relationship is absurd! Why the All-Father would embrace Loki as one of his own first!"

"Baldur, you might want to pick a different analogy, my Loki is the beloved daughter of her adopted father."

Baldur immediately stopped laughing and now had a 'pole-axed' expression. He then scowled. "Blast! These dimensional duplicates cause such a headache! I don't know how you and the All-Father cope."

"When you meet them you find that a lot of the time, aside from a general history, the only thing they have in common is a name. Circumstance causes a huge deviation in how a person develops. Take the All-Father, in our universe he is regal, loving and firm. Everything that a king and father should be. In Harry's world, the All-Father is all you would want for a king when he needs to be, but he is more relaxed, partly because he allows his sons and daughter to hold the throne for a time."

"Truly?" Baldur asked; he was amazed.

"They learnt to do that sort of thing from Harry. All of the people in the castle not native to our dimension have ruled planet Earth. Some have ruled a majority of the galaxy." Clark nodded.

"I wonder if the All-Father knows of this." Baldur mused.

"He's the All-Father, Baldur, of course he knows. But he also knows that it is too soon to try and change the ways of Asgard."

"You have become very wise since you were the young buck who bested my brother in battle." Baldur said approvingly. "But enough of this talk. I came to talk to you about your relationship with the Goddess of Love."

Clark once again stiffened.

"Relax my young friend. All I wish to tell you is that you must be aware of the various traditions and treaties that are on the verge of being broken."

"That's all?!" Clark asked incredulously. "Won't this mean war?"

"Of course it would, but only if you were willing to defy the treaties." Baldur said dismissively. "But my father respects you, he says that one day you will rule Midgard with Lord Death and be a beloved leader. The only reason you would break the treaties is if you wished to be spiteful."

"What exactly do I have to do to not break them?" Clark asked stiffly.

"Quite simply, you must marry the Lady Aphrodite as an Asgardian."

"Me specifically?" Clark asked. "I mean… this isn't a treaty I inherited from Thor?"

"No, no." Baldur said quickly. "This is a treaty signed by all the pantheons. It merely states that when two members from differing pantheons wish to bond they must do so as members of their pantheons. This was simply to prevent couples running off and to ensure respect for our cultures. It is also to ensure that the pantheons benefit from the ties the bonding will create, at what you might call a 'political' level." Baldur explained.

"I don't understand, what makes you think Aphrodite and I are getting married?" Clark asked, he was feeling slightly calmer now that he knew people weren't attempting to interfere in his life.

Baldur just chuckled. "Do you truly believe that a Goddess of Love would willingly start a doomed relationship?"

Clark just blushed. "Oh. Well, is there a time limit?"

"Not in a manner of days or years, but that you must marry before you consummate your relationship."

Clark's blush deepened. It didn't matter that every night he made love to at least one of his Sekirei or Kyla, bring up the concept of having sex with someone else and he became very embarrassed.

"You are no virgin, Kal-El and yet you seem to turn as red as one!" Baldur laughed. "I will leave you now, Little Brother. I must make my way to the Bifrost so I can return and report to the All-Father. Just remember my warnings and be true to the god that you are.

"Oh, and be sure to visit Asgard, Lord Odin has declared you family, he would love for you to visit your little sister."

"Little- oh Thor. How is she?"

"Come find out for yourself." Baldur challenged.

"Well, as long as we aren't gone too long Loki was going to teach me to teleport with my lighting. I could take you back to Asgard myself." Clark offered.

"That woman truly amazes me, as does her brother!" Baldur shook his head. "Our Loki is nothing like her and my brother Thor was an oaf compared to her brother."

* * *

Chloe found herself strapped to a metal table staring up at the barrel of the biggest ray gun she had ever seen.

Although this was her first ray gun.

It didn't help that she was still in her underwear and the table was freezing and the person in charge was a man.

"Now this is something I whipped up with Brunhilde and the Vision." Bruce Banner said calmly as he manoeuvred the gun over her. "It's actually based on a weapon created to defeat me, they very nearly succeeded too." Bruce chuckled.

"Harry saved the day?" Chloe asked, uncomfortably nervous in her current position of cold and exposed.

"No, my wife at the time, she was not pleased with what they were doing and… well, it gets a bit messy." He said conspiratorially. "But it was an excellent design and my friends and I studied the device, magic is a wonderful gift but it is not for everyone. For instance, I can't use magic as it conflicts with the gamma radiation in my body. The Vision can't because he is an artificial life form and doesn't have a soul."

"But you still consider him alive and, well, an equal?"

"Oh yes." Bruce nodded as he adjusted the controls. "Death declared The Vision and several other AI's to be deemed sentient and the equal of any soul bearing creature."

"I take it The Vision is still working on emotions?"

"No, he has them, he just doesn't really display them. He does have a very dry sense of humour though."

"Very dry." Jean muttered as she walked up. "Are we ready?"

"Yes, she is good to go." Bruce nodded as he moved the ray gun away. "She didn't feel a thing and all her readings are normal."

"What? You didn't do anything!" Chloe objected.

"I've been working this thing since I moved it over you Chloe." Bruce chuckled.

"But there was no light coming out of it."

"Not all energy emits a light, besides, I find that patients prefer not to know when they are being operated on." Jean smirked.

"You didn't alter my memories?" Chloe asked suspiciously.

"Chloe, you've seen some of the worst that mankind has to offer, you've undergone Amazon training, it really wouldn't be worth erasing your memories over something as trivial as this."

Chloe frowned for a moment. "Are you wearing any underwear?"

A huge smile spread over Jean's face as Bruce looked on in confusion. "Of course not, it gets in the way."

Bruce just rolled his eyes and walked off.

"Are you lying?"

"No."

"So I'm not healed?"

"You are."

"Please explain."

"You are a magical being, the energy has been removed but you managed to assimilate the ability."

"Can I turn it off?" Chloe asked worriedly. "Will it vanish after a burning day?"

"You will have to learn to control it and no it won't vanish. It might even become stronger."

"I guess that makes me the latest student of Lorna's then." Chloe sighed.

"No, you will still go to school with the others, you will just have to be careful of the questions you ask."

Chloe closed her eyes and began to bang her head on the metal table in frustration.

* * *

In Odin's hall there was a huge crackle and then a blinding light, the warriors and guards immediately had their weapons out.

"Hold! It is family that has come." Odin ordered.

The light dissipated to reveal two men and a woman.

"I believe you need more practice Kal-El." One of the men groaned from the floor.

Clark looked down and saw that both Baldur and Loki were on the floor and smoking.

"I'm sorry!" He said quickly as he knelt down and checked them.

"_Lot's_ more practice." Loki said hoarsely.

* * *

Matsu was taking her turn shadowing Clark as he went to work. Although Clark set this up so he could spend more time with his Sekirei it also helped to provide Clark with a visible bodyguard. No one was dumb enough to take on the Discipline Squad.

Well… almost no one.

"Clark, you might like to know that Benitsubasa has challenged Musubi." Homura called out.

Clark stopped his trek through the Sekirei common room to his office and sighed. "Any particular reason why?"

"She is the lowest number on the Discipline Squad, maybe she finds it offensive that a low ranked Sekirei has replaced her." Matsu offered.

"But Musubi still outranks her. Benitsubasa is 105 even Haihane outranks her."

"Benitsubasa is jealous, and not just because she thinks Musubi took her place." Mutsu smirked. "She has an inferiority complex about her body."

"If she smiled more she'd be quite pretty." Clark frowned.

"Its not her face she is ashamed of." Mutsu's smirk grew into a grin.

"Mutsu." Miya warned the only male member of the Discipline Squad. "Benitsubasa is ashamed of her small breasts, Musubi is… well endowed." She explained.

"But Kazehana is bigger." Clark argued.

Everyone just stared at him with big grins, even Miya.

"Its in your files, all your latest body measurements." Clark rolled his eyes. Although he was physically familiar with their sizes.

"I'm number 3 darling." Kazehana drawled with her sexy smirk. "Taking me on would be suicidal for 105. Especially if you empowered me."

"It's your choice Musubi, but if she even thinks of breaking the rules of engagement then I want Miya to deal with her." Clark said sternly.

"I want to fight! I've never properly been challenged!" Musubi smiled excitedly as she bounced on the spot.

Clark couldn't help but notice the way Musubi's chest bounced with her, that would definitely drive 105 insane.

"We'll make sure they both abide by the rules you set down." Miya assured him.

"Thank you, and good luck Musubi, I'll try and get down to support you." Clark smiled at his first Sekirei.

Clark continued his trek to his office with Matsu where he sat at his desk; Matsu was more relaxed and sat in the chair opposite his desk. It was a far sight better than Kazehana who lounged in the chair with her legs propped on the desk giving him a clear view of… everything.

"There are still nearly twenty missing Sekirei." Clark sighed as he examined his computer screens. "We need to find them, we know they are still in the city though."

"Actually, I had a thought about that." Matsu grinned.

"We are not re-tasking every Japanese and North Korean satellite for you to play with!"

"No not that. Poopy-head." She muttered under her breath. "Sekirei Diagnostic Day."

"I've read about that. What makes you think they will turn up?" Clark asked.

"It's part of a built in mental command. Jean and Takami have removed it from the Discipline Squad though."

"Why haven't I heard about this?" Clark demanded. "This is mind control! I'm surprised Harry isn't tearing through the city right now."

"It was buried deep in the MBI servers. It was actually on a disconnected system and I only found it when I went down there with the squad to check the security measures." Matsu shrugged. "Jean said we shouldn't tell Harry because we don't want a re-enactment of Godzilla." She said referring to Harry's dragon form.

"Well I am not keeping this from him." Clark said adamantly. "I'll tell him tonight and try and convince him not to start tearing the city apart looking for Fay Wray."

"That's King Kong." Matsu frowned.

"They fought each other." Clark shrugged. "Anyway, what if the Ashikabi's try to prevent their Sekirei from coming?"

"They will have a hard time, but maybe some incentive can be used. MBI owns a local resort, we could offer its use to all Ashikabis and their Sekirei for a day."

"We do?" Clark asked in surprise. "Do that anyway. These people could use a break, they've been running, hiding and fighting for far too long."

* * *

Chloe walked into the Torch that morning with a smile as she saw her friends all there.

"Hey girls how are all of you?"

"Horny."

"Tired."

"Sore, but satisfied."

"I am worried about Uzume."

Everyone turned to look at Lana and Kyla. Lana was blushing but Kyla was glaring at Chloe. "I thought your truth problem was fixed?"

"No, they cleared the bad energy out but they couldn't remove the ability!" Chloe was mortified. "I honestly thought that was an innocent question!"

Lana buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

"No more questions!" Kyla snapped.

"What about in class?"

"Ask someone at the castle, can you imagine what would happen if you asked the wrong question in class?" Kyla ordered.

Everyone turned to a giggling Chiho. "We might find out the truth behind the Kennedy assassination, or the moon landing."

Chloe thought about that for a moment.

"Chloe!" Lana cried out in disbelief.

"Sorry, it just seemed like a half decent idea."

"When will it wear off?" Phoebe asked.

"They said it won't, they said I have to learn to control it."

"I guess we know what we will be doing for the next few nights." Mindee giggled.

"Truth or Dare, without the Dare." Celeste laughed.

"Chiho, why are you worried about Uzume?" Lana asked gently.

Chiho shrugged and gave a small smile. "I always worry about her. She's my Sekirei, it's my duty to worry about her and care for her."

"Maybe during the summer you can follow her around work like Clark's Sekirei follow him." Kyla offered. "According to Kazehana they spend most of the night jumping around the city, sparring or relaxing."

"Lucky bitches." Chloe muttered.

"Does your Dad know about your condition?" Kyla asked Chloe with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't see him this morning, he was already gone."

"Give me your phone, I'll tell him you won't be home for a few days and why."

"I can call him!"

"And what if this ability works over phones?"

Chloe handed her phone over, there were some things no child should know about their parents.

* * *

That evening, whilst the others were starting their fun with truth or dare, Lana was in a discussion with Harry and Helen.

"I always thought I wanted to go into fashion design. I was planning to apply to some schools in Paris this year, but I think I want to do more. I want to study medicine."

"A doctor?" Helen asked with a bright smile. Lana often volunteered at the Medical Centre with her, she was also ready to take her phlebotomists exam.

"I think I want to start as a nurse, then move onto medicine." Lana explained.

"It shouldn't be a problem. I prefer nursing at times, you get to interact with patients for longer." Harry admitted.

"I was hoping you could recommend some good schools."

"Columbia is good, one of the best in America." Helen said. "Pennsylvania too, and of course John Hopkins."

"The University of Surrey in England is good." Harry continued. "Or even King's College Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, many of my first non-magical colleagues studied there. France has-"

"I think we can arrange for you to visit some places over the summer." Helen interrupted before Harry could continue.

Harry was a little put out and huffed before agreeing. "Take the triplets and Chloe and Kyla with you. Make it your summer trip and learn about the world when you aren't defending it." Harry suggested.

"Sounds expensive." Lana grimaced.

Harry just grinned. "Very."


	48. Chapter 48

The following day Clark was being shadowed by Homura, she was still wary about a relationship with a man, but like the others she was devoted to Clark as her Ashikabi. Musubi was scheduled to duel Benitsubasa the following day. The rest of the night in Tokyo was put on hold by a call from Jean for Superman to get to Smallville immediately.

Clark was in costume and in Smallville via his own teleportation in seconds. He was surprised to see Batman, Green Lantern and the Flash standing in the castle entrance hall.

"What's going on?" Superman asked.

"The Joker escaped from Arkham two nights ago. I only just found out this morning and spent the past few hours rounding everyone up. He came straight here, he's after Harry." Batman explained.

"Why? Harry's not a hero, not a public one."

"No, but he was responsible for having him locked up in Arkham and for his treatment." The others were a little surprised to see Batman smirk.

Superman just rolled his eyes. "What did he do?"

"He just made sure that the only thing he had to read were furniture construction instructions and that he was only served white food in a plain white room."

"Why would the Joker hate Harry for that?" Hal asked.

"Because the Joker thrives on chaos." Superman sighed. "Harry forced him into a world of order."

"Yes, but now that he's escaped he's taken the High School hostage." Batman growled.

"Well, the only real issue is attempting to diffuse this situation without alerting the world to magic and the three Amazons that go to school there." Superman frowned.

"Not to mention the threat of death and all that goes with it." Flash pointed out.

"No, Harry and the others will deal with Joker long before he becomes a real threat." Batman disagreed. "He is simply letting us handle it for the public."

"Just so you know, I am not going to try and capture this monster." Superman warned.

"That's a slippery slope." The Flash warned. "The public won't like it one bit, not to mention the government."

"He's right, they will come down hard on you." Hal agreed.

"Ok, I won't kill him right away. I'll make the government order me to kill him or do it themselves." Superman said with humourless smile.

* * *

The quartet of heroes stalked into the school ignoring the protests of the Sheriff. They had a date with a madman and they refused to keep him waiting.

They eventually made it to the gym where the students and teachers had been forced to congregate and sit on the floor. Standing in the middle of the room with an explosive vest was the Joker with a gun at the head of a very frightened Chiho and the vests trigger in his other hand.

Crucified to the wall was Harry Potter. He didn't look very worried or in a lot of pain. He looked _bored_.

"Well if it isn't my old pals Supes and Bats!" The Joker cackled.

"Release the girl Jack and put down the trigger." Superman ordered.

"The name is Joker!" The man snapped.

"Jack White, a loser. That's what you were, now you are nothing." Superman said calmly. "This is your last chance, release the girl and put down the trigger."

"No." The Joker said like a petulant child. "I have a meeting with my old friend Harry. You remember him, the one who put me in that HELL HOLE!" He roared.

"Fine, Green Lantern can you contain the bomb?"

"Yes, but I can't get there quick enough." Hal frowned.

"Different plan. Flash, you handle the bomb, I'll deal with the gun."

"When?"

"Now."

The Flash vanished and so did Superman. Whilst the Flash was gone and out the building before Superman had finished uttering the word, Superman moved as fast as he could placing his hand over the muzzle of the gun and lifting the Joker into the air with him as he hovered over the students.

Hal quickly moved in and retrieved Chiho.

"Got ya kid." He whispered to the shaking girl as he carried her back to Batman who stood there motionless with the Flash who had already returned.

"Batman, you have cuffs?" Superman called down.

"A special pair just for him." Batman confirmed as he pulled out a set of restraints that looked more like a set of metal gloves.

Superman tossed the Joker at Batman's feet who leapt on the man and punched him, knocking him out quickly.

"I really wouldn't mind a little help here." Harry called out sarcastically.

The Flash walked over examined the nails. "Green Lantern, you might want to handle this."

The Green Lantern handed Chiho over to Superman and floated to Harry and Flash. "I get to rescue the almighty Death!" He whispered happily so only they could hear him.

"Laugh it up green boy." Harry groused. "You have no idea how annoying it is going to be to remember I am supposed to be in pain for the next few weeks."

"Hey, does this earn me any points for the other side?" He asked curiously.

"Ask Dad, I've never been there." Harry rolled his eyes as the Green Lantern gently phased him off the wall and through the nails.

"Flash, can you get some medical supplies from his office for his hands." Green Lantern requested.

Flash vanished for all of two seconds whilst he retrieved the items.

"What took you so long?" Harry groused.

"I didn't know where your office was." Flash shrugged.

* * *

Superman flew with the Joker held firmly in his grip. Behind him Green Lantern transported Batman and the Flash, their destination was Washington DC. The entire world was watching them as they flew, helicopters tried to follow but they couldn't keep up, fighter jets were scrambled to intercept but they were deterred by a few well-placed blasts from Superman's eyes.

The entire flight took little more than half-an-hour before they descended on the White House lawn.

They were, of course, met by an entire array of soldiers and Secret Service Agents… all with various firearms pointed at Earth's heroes.

"Halt, take one step more and we'll open fire." A ranking officer ordered.

"We've come to speak with your President. Send him out and we will leave peacefully. Refuse and we will walk through you." Superman warned.

"Oh, have we come to have tea with the Queen?" The Joker cackled.

He was ignored.

"You want to see the President then make an appointment." The officer said firmly. "And leave that prisoner elsewhere."

"Either the President takes personal responsibility for this man or he gives me permission to kill him… here and now." Superman said calmly as he held up the Joker.

"Let's not be too hasty here Supes!" The Joker said with a slightly nervous laugh.

"I'll take him on behalf-"

"The President takes _personal _responsibility." Superman reiterated. "In clearer terms, he exits the White House and physically takes hold of the Joker. At that time we will leave. Don't make me wait too long." He finished warningly.

"I can't authorise that and I doubt the President will either."

"Find out, quickly. You have five minutes."

"Five minutes! That's not long enough!"

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that the President is not listening to what we are saying right now and that he only has to say the word and he will be talking to me? Get a clue and hurry up." Superman hissed.

"Oooh busted!"

It seemed like the President intended to make them wait the entire five minutes, at least that's what he said. Superman had then told them that he could hear every word that they said and reduced the time down to thirty seconds.

The President of the United States came running out of the White House with his bodyguards.

"Alright, I'm here. What do you want?" The President demanded angrily.

"Your Majesty, an honour." The Joker said mockingly.

"You already know. I want you to claim personal responsibility for this criminal. You will personally take him off my hands. If he escapes, it will be your fault. If he kills another person, it will be your fault."

"That's a job for the prison guards and judges." The President argued.

"And a fine job they are doing. You should give them a raise!" The Joker suggested.

"Maybe you should think about investigating the men who decided to make sure this monster couldn't be executed. He's a genius who managed to escape several times in one year. This time he tried to threaten an entire school of children and a good friend of ours."

"We always get him back." The President said dismissively.

"And I do so love escaping." The Joker said happily.

"No, Batman gets him back. _You_ let him escape!" Superman countered angrily. "You can kill him or you can put him away again. But his actions are now your responsibility."

"The United States does not respond to threats." The President said haughtily. "We will take the Joker, but don't come back here. You are not welcome."

"Are you saying that the next time a disaster occurs, like in Metropolis with the train, or Gotham with the Scarecrow and the Joker, you want me to just let your citizens die?"

"We will handle our own problems. The rest of the world might enjoy serving your every whim but we are Americans. We take our freedom and independence seriously."

"I want Gotham." Batman growled.

"It won't count." Superman said without looking back at the Dark knight. "We won't ignore the little things, but we won't step in and fix their problems anymore either. We'll defend those more deserving."

Superman tossed the Joker at the President with enough force to cause the man to stumble. The guns were immediately pointed back at them as the Agents tried to get the struggling Joker off the President.

"Just so you are aware, anymore attacks on Harry Potter and his family will see us offering our services as an official part of Japan's government. Stay away from our friends."

Superman turned on his heel and nodded to the other three heroes. The Green Lantern encased Batman and the Flash in a sphere and they ascended into the air with Superman following them.

* * *

When the heroes where far enough away they teleported back to the castle and immediately ditched their costumes for civilian clothes.

All the Castle residents met them; at the front were Kyla who had Chloe and Lana on either side and Clark's Sekirei arrayed behind them. What made Clark suspicious was that Kyla was dressed in a flowing gown of red that was almost sheer; she had a look of aloofness on her face as she stepped regally towards the heroes.

"Now, Clark, I believe that when you conquer the world I would prefer to be called 'Empress'. None of this 'Queen' stuff." She said haughtily.

Clark rolled his eyes. "As long as I can leave the day to day business to you. I'll stick to dealing with natural disasters."

"Can I be a duke or something?" Barry piped up.

"As long as you don't mind answering to Empress Kyla." Clark nodded. "Speaking of which, Empress _Kyla_, will I be 'Emperor Clark' or 'Emperor Superman'?"

"If you two are finished with your plans for world domination I think we should head inside and discuss today's events." Bruce interrupted.

Kyla turned and pointed at Bruce imperiously. "_You_ shall be our court jester!"

Bruce ignored her and just walked past the group. Once he was past them all he let himself smile.

Clark immediately made a beeline to Uzume and Chiho. "Are you ok Chiho?"

She nodded silently but still clearly shake from the events of only a few hours ago.

"Please let me stay with her Clark!" Uzume pleaded.

Clark looked at her sympathetically, he knew what it was like to be separated from you Sekirei and he knew the Sekirei felt the same way about their Ashikabi. "I'll talk to Takami and have you relieved from the Discipline Squad, we'll also talk to Harry about seeing if we can't get you to pass for a High School student."

Two grateful girls immediately swamped him.

The residents including Jonathan and Martha along with Ryan and Kusano were soon seated at the round conference table in the Great Hall. Harry got the ball rolling.

"Alright, first of all, the whole killing thing. No hero is allowed to kill unless they are given permission straight from me. That said Clark always has an implied permission as my Apprentice."

"Extenuating circumstances?" Hal asked seriously.

"As Death you have my full confidence to use your best judgement. Hal, as a member of a law enforcement entity you can do what you need within their guidelines."

"Does everyone agree with this?" Scott asked the assembled people.

There was a range of confirmations from Brunnhilde's adamant declaration to Bruce Wayne's stoic nod.

"Should any of you who are native to this world desire, I have updated the castle's database with all my knowledge of events from my home universe." The Vision stated. "It should allow you some insight into how Death operates and what sort of society he aims to bring about."

"Next topic: Threatening world leaders!" Harry grinned.

Clark just blushed; he had gotten a little carried away today.

"Any future threats should probably be approved by all of us." Harry continued. "But what you did today was pretty good. A non-violent show of power."

"What were you hoping to achieve though?" Tess asked.

Clark shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck a little sheepishly. "I was hoping to get the Joker in a room with the President, I was going to give him back his knife and let his bodyguards handle it. The Joker needs to die, I thought getting the President to do it might force them to re-evaluate the way things are currently."

"I doubt you will achieve that this time." Loki warned. "But the Prime Minister of Japan is having strong words with the President about them letting the Joker escape and threaten Harry."

"Leave the representation of Death up to me." Xander instructed. "I've got my lightsabre, courtesy of Nev, so I'll conjure some new black cloaks and take up my old role."

"Won't people be expecting a scythe?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, but the Dark Lord of the Sith is so much more intimidating!" Xander grinned.

"But not correct." Chloe pointed out.

"Well, _he_ is Death, so I guess if he says it's correct, it is." Kyla shrugged as she pointed at Harry.

"A Sith like Darth Vadar?" Ryan asked curiously from where he sat next to Clark with Kusano.

"Better!" Harry grinned.

"Fine, so we don't kill and we don't threaten governments." Clark interrupted. "Anything else?"

"Yes. It's time we rattle the cage a little bit." Harry nodded with a frown. "The alien presence on Mars needs to be addressed. We will bring it to the attention of the United Nations and see how they respond."

* * *

"Guess who?!"

"Hope."

"How do you do that?"

Harry spun in his chair with an expression of delighted shock to see Hope Summers standing there pouting.

"I don't actually see souls with my eyes. What are you doing here?"

"Just testing out something the Vision was working on." She said airily as she perched herself on his desk.

"Oh?"

"You know so much about magic, you are, well… forgive the term but, you are masterful with magic. But with as much as know about magic you have forgotten so much more." She said.

"Huh?"

"All those books you conjured on magic during the early days, they contain things that you seem to have forgotten about. Like vanishing cabinets?" She asked pointedly.

Harry frowned. "I remember those, they don't allow you to travel though time though."

"They do if they are modified." She said smugly.

"That's what Vision was working on?"

"For several decades ever since we heard you might be heading off for another world. We tested it back home without problems but we needed to test time, space and dimensions together and today was the first successful test."

"So now we can move between our worlds by walking into a cabinet… excellent work!"

"Well, it's just a door really. He shrunk the runes down to fit on a doorway."

"HOPE!"

Harry quickly stuffed his fingers in his ears as the expected female squealing began between Dani and Hope. It got even worse when the Triplets came running.

"So… that's Hope." Chloe said to Diana dryly from the doorway as the squealing females ignored them.

"You've heard of her?"

"No, but… never mind." Chloe sighed. Some forms of humour were lost on her Princess.

"Ladies!"

The room was silenced. A testament to the authority that Emma Frost could command with a simple spoken work.

"Hope, it is good to see you dear. Perhaps you should go and greet your grandfather before he feels neglected?" She suggested with a smile.

Three blondes and a brunette dragged Hope out of the doorway.

"Erm… Scott?" Lana queried.

"Yes, he is her adoptive grandfather." Emma confirmed.

"She… she's- she feels familiar." Chloe frowned.

"I'm not surprised. She is a Phoenix after all." Emma said dryly.

"Erm… are we going to have another 'Rachel' situation?" Chloe asked worriedly.

"Of course not! Hope was trained by Harry and raised by Scott's son." Emma assured them.

* * *

"Ok Musubi, you need to end this quickly." Clark told his Sekirei as they stood at the edge of the arena where the Sekirei battles now took place.

It was much like a gladiatorial arena created by Xander and Harry. It allowed Sekirei like Kazehana to make full use of their powers.

"But I want to fight!" Musubi whined.

"Finish her off quickly and I will fight with you myself, I will push you to your limits." Clark promised.

"Yay!" Musubi said happily.

Clark smiled at her enthusiasm. "Just remember the two ways to end a fight quickly when dealing with an opponent who underestimates you."

"Right. Got it." Musubi nodded.

Clark returned the nod and walked to the centre of the arena where he pulled a microphone from his inside jacket pocket and addressed the spectating Ashikabi and Sekirei.

"_Ashikabi and Sekirei, the following match is a challenge by number 106, Benitsubasa, against number 88, Musubi. Both are fist types. Remember, a challenge may be issued for any reason and a challenge may be rejected for any reason. There is to be no outside interference and the match is over when one combatant is incapacitated or accepts defeat._

"_Ladies, you may begin when ready."_

With that Clark walked calmly out of the arena. There were thirty people in the stands. Most Sekirei had no interest in fighting but some wanted to learn. All the Disciplinary Squads were present as this was considered a learning experience.

"Do you think this will be over quickly or will it be drawn out?" Kazehana asked as Clark took his seat between Miya and Matsu.

"Musubi likes to hit. This will be over quickly." Clark said with resignation.

"HAVE AT THEE!"

"Ok, who told her to say that?" Clark demanded as they watched Musubi charge a slightly startled Benitsubasa.

There was an explosion of dust and dirt in the middle of the arena as Musubi's fist impacted with Benitsubasa.

* * *

"I have found an interesting artefact." The Vision informed Brunhilde as they stood in the Kawatche caves.

"Some sort of knife… encased in clay with Kryptonian symbols." Brunhilde frowned as she examined the artefact that was sitting on a portable table.

"I believe the symbols were carved by the Kawatche themselves as they barely make any sense."

"You can read Kryptonian?" Brunhilde asked, clearly impressed.

"I assume none of you have been reading my reports?" The Vision sighed.

"We've been a little busy and we are merely organics." She chided with a smile.

"I have fully interfaced with the systems here. I have access to all the information and functions contained in them. I am still working on trying to make the Jor-El AI see reason though." He reported.

"Impressive."

"Fairly simple for a being like myself." The Vision said dismissively and without insult.

Brunhilde just chuckled. "Do you know anything about the knife?"

"Until I can identify it, no. Perhaps Kyla might know more."

"If not her then we can call in her grandfather."

* * *

"Alright, which of you told Musubi to use that war cry today?" Clark demanded as he stomped into the castle common room that evening.

"What war cry?" Harry asked curiously.

"'Have at thee'."

There were a round of snorts. "You have to let us share the memory of that one!" Jean laughed.

"You stay out of my mind, you aren't getting that." Clark warned.

He was surprised when they all started laughing and cheering.

"Bloody brilliant!" Neville exclaimed. "That was enough to confuse the bint for that devastating blow."

Clark looked around and saw Miya smirking at him.

"Miya!" Clark whined pitifully.

"They deserved to see Musubi's victory if nothing else." She defended herself.

"That is _not_ why you shared the memory." Clark said accusingly.

"No, but it was good." She shrugged cheekily.

* * *

Clark, Brunhilde, Kyla and the Vision were waiting in the caves for Joseph Willowbrook to arrive. Kyla had tried to read the writing but she wasn't confident in her translation.

The group was a little surprised when Joseph turned up with another young man.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Kyla snarled.

"Granddaughter, mind your manners." Joseph said warningly.

"We asked for _you_ Joseph." Brunhilde responded with a matching tone. "This is a private matter."

"You wanted help determining the origin and purpose of a Kawatche artefact. This is Jeremiah Holdsclaw, what I don't know he probably will." Joseph explained calmly.

"You should have asked first." Brunhilde said unhappily.

"These are Kawatche caves, I am Kawatche." Jeremiah said haughtily. "I have far more of a right to be here than you white people."

"Jeremiah!" Joseph hissed.

"Why don't you like him Kyla?" Clark asked quietly.

"Because he's a creepy little perv who thinks he owns me."

"You are the Chief's daughter and I am the strongest male of the tribe. We are destined to be together." Jeremiah declared.

"She's taken, and I suggest you stay away from her." Clark warned.

"Enough!" Joseph interrupted. "We came here for one purpose. We will discuss your designs on my granddaughter later." Joseph told Jeremiah with a hint of disgust.

"This is the knife we found." The Vision stated. "The writing is not in any specific form of order making translation difficult."

"Palak!" Jeremiah whispered in awe.

"Now is not the time for fairy tales." Joseph said quickly but he sent a look at Clark to show that Jeremiah was onto something. "It is clearly a simple hunting knife."

"But it is Palak!"

"If you cannot be objective- no!"

But Jeremiah had dived for the knife and smashed the clay around it. The second he held the actual knife a glow emanated from the knife and spread up and into Jeremiah.

"Joseph, lets assume this is Palak, what is Palak?" Brunhilde asked warily as they all took up defensive positions.

"It is the Star Blade. It can give absolute power to its wielder. It is said that it will reveal the identity of Sageeth."

"Jeremiah put the knife down." Clark ordered.

"You are not worthy to touch Palak. You are not worthy to stand on the lands of my people." Jeremiah snarled, then his gaze fell on Kyla. "You are not worthy of the daughter of the tribe."

In the blink of an eye Kyla and Jeremiah vanished.

"Why did you let them go?!" Brunhilde demanded of Clark.

"Because I don't know what the definition of 'absolute power' is for a Kawatche. For me it means Harry Potter." Clark frowned.

"Oh… very good Clark." Brunhilde said surprised that she hadn't thought of it.

"I can tell you he isn't as fast as me. Tell Kyla to try not to escape him."

"Done. But why?"

"Because as long as she is with Jeremiah we will always be able to get to him through her."

"Impressive reasoning. I can see why Loki is so taken with you." The Vision smiled softly.

"Joseph, I need to know what exactly absolute power means." Clark turned to the Chief.

"I cannot say for sure. The legends state similar abilities as to Naman, but you know they aren't completely accurate."

"My sensors were able to determine levels at least equal to your own but his physiology was unchanged." The Vision reported.

Clark turned to Joseph. "Does Jeremiah have any combat training?"

"He's done some wrestling." Joseph shrugged.

"Brunhilde, could you alert the family to be ready, I will try and do this myself but if necessary I will call for help."

* * *

"When I get out of here I am going to kick your ASS!" Kyla screamed Jeremiah. He'd tied her to a large tree with some rope he stole from the cavern storage areas. If Kyla was a mere mortal she might be in trouble… but she was an Amazon gifted with magic.

"Don't you see Kyla?!" Jeremiah said earnestly. "All your life you said you would wait for Naman… well… here I am." Jeremiah smiled widely.

For a full second Kyla stared at him… then she broke down in hysterical laughter.

"Stop laughing girl!" Jeremiah snapped angrily.

"You- you are nothing like Naman." Kyla said through her gasps of laughter. "I found Naman years ago and I _am_ his."

Jeremiah just sneered. "If you have found Naman, then were is he?"

Kyla's head shot up and she stared straight into Jeremiah's eyes with such intensity that he took an involuntary step back. "Right behind you."

Jeremiah spun around to see Clark Kent standing there.

"You've taken my soul mate." Clark said calmly. "I've been known to forgive a lot… but you have really pushed the limits of my mercy."

"Leave white man, before I tear your arms from your body with my bare hands."

"You have two things that belong to me Jeremiah Holdsclaw: my soul mate and my dagger. Return them both and leave the state of Kansas and I won't hurt you."

"I hold the Star Blade! No one can defeat me!"

"Naman can."

Both men were startled when a beautiful blonde woman appeared to the side.

"Aphrodite-"

"We shall not interfere my love, but we shall stand beside you." As Aphrodite spoke the rest of Clark's Sekirei appeared, each one was dressed in their uniforms and they arrayed themselves around the clearing Jeremiah had taken Kyla to.

"Kyla, you're an Amazon, last I heard they don't do restraints." Clark told his soul mate.

"About friggin' time." Kyla muttered as she snapped the ropes, much to Jeremiah's shock.

"Who are you?" He asked Kyla, his voice a mix of anger, awe and caution.

"I am Kyla Willowbrook, the soul mate of Naman and an Amazon." Kyla said as she walked through Jeremiah and up to Clark where she kissed him deeply. "If you don't give him a solid beating I'll just have to do it myself." She told Clark calmly.

Clark pulled his hammer out of the air and sent a bolt of lightning to the left and slightly behind Jeremiah. He used the distraction to zip in and grab the knife before Jeremiah could react. He may have the powers but he didn't have any experience in using them.

"NO!" Jeremiah shouted as he realised Clark now had the knife and he was powerless.

"Hey! What about the beating?" Kyla asked in annoyance.

Clark just shrugged. "I know better than to get between a woman and the target of her anger."

Jeremiah began to shake with fear as Kyla stalked towards him with a nasty smile.

* * *

Jeremiah was eventually mind wiped of everything regarding Clark, Kyla and their abilities. All he remembered was that he kidnapped Kyla. He was handed off to a grumbling Sheriff Adams and tossed before the Justice System of America.

In New York at the United Nations Headquarters a meeting had been called for the world leaders at the request of Japan, North Korea and Themiscyra. Themiscyra was not yet a recognised nation due to stubbornness, bigotry and hate mongering by the American government. As a result, Themiscyra had no desire to associate with such a body and North Korea and Japan were threatening to withdraw their involvement.

After initial proceedings the Japanese Prime Minister was given the floor, it was unusual for a leader to be present like this but Japan had warned that this would be very important.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I asked for you to assemble as the Japanese - North Korean – Themiscyran Alliance has uncovered some interesting facts about our solar system. To explain further I will cede the floor to Queen Amara of Themiscyra."

The doors at the back of the large auditorium slammed open and Amara walked calmly in dressed in a flowing white toga of Ancient Grecian style. The Fidelius protected her identity so that no one would match her with the lawyer from Smallville.

Within seconds the protests rang out that an unrecognised national leader was entering as an equal without prior notice. The most vocal of the nations had tried to have Japan and North Korea expelled because they refused to hand over information on the technology used to create the Amaterasu or details regarding super heroes.

The Prime Minister of Japan raised his voice loudly. "You do not want to hear about the possible threat to the planet that sits within our own solar system?"

"If Japan has important information then you can give it. I can't believe you would actually use this as an excuse to smuggle an unrecognised foreign leader into the chambers." The French representative spat.

"Queen Amara is the ruler of Themiscyra-"

"A so-called paradise island that you won't even tell us the location of." The American representative interrupted.

"So these are the famous leaders of Man's world." Amara sneered in Japanese. It had been debated as to whether she should speak in Ancient Greek, English or Japanese (there had been an intense argument between Chloe and Harry about speaking American whilst Xander and Jean watched with popcorn) but it was decided that she would speak Japanese as they wouldn't have translators available for Ancient Greek.

"Throwing around accusations without basis and showing all the manners of a dog with its food." She looked at the Americans and French.

"Somebody call for security!" The French representative shouted.

"If anybody touches the Queen it will be considered an act of war as she is here as an advisor of the Japanese government." The Prime Minister said firmly. "And be warned, we won't be taking such passive positions as we have with the Americans such as embargos and exile.

"Strike at us and we _will_ strike back."

That brought silence to the whole room.

For whatever reason, no one could find the inclination to doubt the Japanese Prime Minister's word.

"Queen Amara, please, make your report." He said with a low bow that Amara returned in kind.

Amara didn't bother with pleasantries and airs; she got straight down to the point. "As all of you are aware the Amatesaru and her crew headed out of the solar system whilst making a planned route to all nine planets in our solar system to deploy probes and sensors.

"Before we deployed these probes on Mars we picked up substantial life form readings from below the surface. All readings indicate that whatever is down there is currently dormant as no movement has been detected.

"The Japanese-North Korean-Amazon Alliance has decided that as this is all on Mars, essentially Earth's neighbour, we should all have a say in how we handle this potential first contact situation. Right now your governments are being provided with all the sensor readings we took of Mars. The Alliance proposes we request the aid of the Green Lanterns to see if they can facilitate either first contact or investigation of the life forms on the planet."

Amara stepped back and let the Chairman takeover to allow questions.

Predictably the Americans were up first. "How can you not know if they are hostile? Do you at least know what they look like?"

"We know from various scans that the beings are bi-pedal, but we have not descended to the planet in any form nor have we sent down probes. We do not know why these beings are dormant and we do not know what will wake them. Without a proper set of contingency plans in place it would be unwise to try anything."

"You should have sent something down! It sounds to me like you little alliance isn't smart enough to evaluate a threat." He accused.

Amara just looked at him calmly. "Mars is like a ball of fur at the moment. Earth are just children with a stick. If we had poked the ball of fur and discovered a playful puppy willing to stay with us and be our best friend you would have accused us of acting unilaterally and against the other nations. If we had discovered an angry bear, woken from hibernation, you would have accused us of foolishness by unilaterally bringing danger to Earth.

"Instead we decided to give the people of Earth the opportunity to be a part of this important event. If America keeps up this attitude we will exclude them from the event.

"And I will accept no more questions or statements from the US Representative." She said as she turned away from the spiteful man.

"Just what sort of cooperation are you looking for between the United Nations and yourselves?" The British Representative asked with a frown.

"None. We aren't interested in working with a body that thinks they can dictate if Themiscyra is a nation or not. Any country that desires to take part and is willing to abide some fairly standard rules is welcome to take part."

"And if every member nation decides they want in…?"

"Then they do so as separate nations, not as part of a larger body."

The Spanish Representative posed the next question. "Are you making this a true democratic operation? Will we be able to include our own countrymen as part of first contact? Will we all have an equal say?"

"No."

Amara wasn't given a chance to continue as many nations started shouting again.

She carefully scanned the representatives with her eyes. Searching for specific individuals.

Eventually the Chairman was able to call for order.

"I have been given full authority over this matter by the Alliance." Amara said calmly. "The following countries are welcome to join the alliance in this matter: Germany, Norway, Mexico, Taiwan, Ghana and South Africa.

"They were respectful and waited for me to finish and did not start making accusations. The rest of you can go back to your leaders and tell them you were denied the chance to be a part of what will clearly be a historic event because you had no manners."

With that Amara turned to Japanese Prime Minister, bowed and then marched out of the room as people shouted.

The room was drowned in chaos.


	49. Chapter 49

Later that evening Harry was at the Smallville Medical Centre doing his rounds. Lana was with him today instead of with Helen.

"Dr. Potter, I've got a patient that is insisting on being seen only by you." Dr. Scanlan said as he hurried up.

"He's not a reporter?"

"We had him searched by security and his id checked… he isn't listed though, completely absent from the government databases we have access to."

"Government spook?" Lana asked.

"I hadn't thought of that." Scanlan admitted. "I was thinking either foreigner or vagrant… but he is well dressed."

"What's his name?"

"He refused to give it. He is also refusing to leave and for some reason none of us can manage to make him." Scanlan said pointedly.

"A meta." Harry nodded.

'Meta-Humans' was the term Chloe had coined for describing humans with extra abilities. She needed a way of referring to them as something other than mutants and freaks.

"That is our fear."

"Damn, this is a bloody bad time to have to deal with this. We can't even clear the floor."

"Doctor- Harry, none of us are stupid or ignorant." Dr Scanlan said carefully. "We've all seen you work, seen you on the television. Half the town suspects you are likely a Meta yourself. That said, we all trust you, do what you need to, security will attempt to maintain calm."

Harry was gobsmacked. He knew he hadn't really been covert in his work with super heroes but he hadn't expected people to assume he was one. Not before the government did.

"We'll deal with this Doctor." Lana said firmly.

"You will be safe, Miss Lang?"

Lana smiled softly with a hard glint in her eyes. "Let's just say that Harry is more than a mere Meta, he always has a guard to protect him and serve him."

Scanlan took a deep breath and held it as he eyed both Harry and Lana. He nodded before turning on his heel and walking off.

"Doctor, we'll talk more when I am finished." Harry called out.

Scanlan turned and gave a relieved and grateful nod.

"Come on bodyguard." Harry said grumpily as he headed for the room marked on the patient notes Scanlan had given him.

Lana just smiled and followed.

Harry stopped outside the room and turned to Lana with a huge grin. "This could be so much fun, he's a magical!"

Lana didn't smile. She checked for people who could see her before becoming invisible, silenced and out of phase.

Harry rolled his eyes. Some people were so paranoid.

Harry opened the door and strolled in. "So, Mr. Wizard. What did you want to see me about that you couldn't make an appointment at the castle?"

There was a look of anger and shock on the man's face before he said one word, one very weird word:

"_Tropelet!"_

There was a blinding light and seconds after it cleared he found himself in a large room constructed with large rocks, almost medieval.

"_That_… was not a smart move." Harry sighed.

"Did you really think you could go around using magic and no one would notice?" The man asked with a snarl. "There are consequences for revealing magic to homo-sapiens!"

"Do you have a name?" Harry asked, ignoring the man's attitude.

"You can call me 'Master'. Your magic will be bound until you can be trusted not to use it beyond the Hidden City." He said importantly.

"What exactly gives you the right to bind my magic?" Harry asked calmly. The room was beginning to get pretty crowded with invisible people.

"I am the guardian of the Homo Magi! I ensure the safety of the Homo Magi and that the rest of the world doesn't learn of us."

"What do you know about me?" He asked curiously as he conjured a chair for himself. He was amused by the look of surprise on the man's face.

"I know you are gifted, but brash, using your power in front of normal people and taking no care to hide it or deny your abilities. Half of the town you live in suspects you are more than a mere human." The man spat.

"That's it? That's _all_ you know?" Harry asked with clear contempt.

"That is all I _need_ to know to have to take action."

Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Well, go on then. Bind my magic." He shrugged.

The man could see that Harry didn't believe he could do it and this made him angry.

"_Dnib siht nam! Dnib sih cigam litnu I esaeler mih!"_

The words were clearly powerful and the effect they had on the room was incredible as the walls seemed to warp.

But Harry just sat there.

"I'm waiting." He said mockingly.

The man was just shocked as he kept looking between his outstretched hand and Harry.

"No? Then let me show you how to truly de-power someone." Harry sneered as he quickly rose and threw a hand towards the other man.

The man gasped in pain as Harry viciously ripped out the man's magical core. It took just mere seconds but for the man it felt like an eternity.

"And here it is." Harry said as he calmly paced before the man who was gasping on his knees. In his hand he was lightly tossing a ball of energy up and down. "Your entire magical core, in the palm of my hand."

"W- What are you?" The man asked; his fear was clear.

"_Now_ you decided to ask that question?" Harry scoffed. "You kidnapped me from my place of work… my home town. You attacked me and accused me of crimes without allowing for discourse or trial. And only _now_… when I have you at my utter mercy, do you have the mere common sense to ask WHAT I AM?!" Harry roared at the man.

"He is the Avatar of Love."

The man was shocked to see a blonde haired woman in a white Grecian gown appear behind Harry to his left.

"He is the Master of Magic." A tall heavily built man appeared to the right.

There was a loud clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning appeared between himself and Harry causing him to jump back quickly and land on his ass. Out of the smoke strode a tall man with black hair and startling blue eyes that looked down at him with pure anger in those eyes, in his hand was a huge battle hammer.

"He is Death and all of creation now stands against you." The man growled angrily. "Your foolishness has sealed your fate, you should pray to Lord Death that he is merciful to the rest of the Homo Magi."

"John… what have you done?"

The room was suddenly filled with an array of people. Mostly women but also the famous super heroes Flash, Green Lantern and… Batman… who had his mask off.

"Bruce? What is this? Why would you ally yourself with someone who would threaten the safety of my people?" John asked feeling betrayed.

Bruce just looked at him sadly. "Why did you not come to me first? Why did you not trust _my_ judgement?"

"A better question would be: Who made him the arbiter of magicals?" The first man who had arrived said dryly. "I know it wasn't the Phoenix Council."

"It was not the gods." The woman in the Grecian robes added.

"And we all know it wasn't Death, the Master of Magic himself." The blue-eyed man stated coldly. "Who made you judge, jury and executioner of magicals? How many non-magicals have you killed in your so-called role?"

"I-I-" John could only stutter in fear as he tried to back further away from the hammer that was sparking with lightning; the wall made that impossible.

"Lord Death, this is John Zatara, the man I told you about." Bruce said with a hint of embarrassment. "The last time I met him he was just a man, travelling like myself."

Harry nodded. "Answer my friends' questions, Zatara. You wouldn't want to make them… wait."

***shnickt***

***hiss**snap***

John's eyes widened as one of the men in the back held up his fists and three claws on the back of each hand appeared and another man in a dark cloak that concealed his face suddenly produced a lightsabre.

Then John's eyes narrowed. "Hmm, so you thought you could trick me with petty illusions." He said as he rose to his feet.

The man in front of him raised his hammer to John's chest and a spark of lightning leapt at him like a tazer.

As John rubbed his chest the cloaked figure with the lightsabre glided forward as though it was hovering above the ground, there were no feet to be seen.

"I am Death's Hand, I have been known to play with illusions… but never with someone who would threaten MY SON!"

John screamed as the lightsabre sliced through the flesh of his upper arm leaving a cauterised gash.

"Answer the questions! Who made you judge, jury and executioner of Homo Magi and how many non-magicals have you killed?" The being demanded.

"I'm not the ruler! I'm the protector of the Homo Magi." John said hastily as he cradled his arm. "I travel the world seeking out new homo magi and bringing them back to the city and making sure that no one remembers them."

"_How_ do you make sure they don't remember?" Harry asked.

"I remove their memories, that's all."

"What if the new magicals are children?" The Grecian blonde demanded.

"The parents will forget they ever had a child." He said as though it were obvious.

John flinched as the woman lunged for him angrily only to be held back by the man with the hammer.

"Telepaths, take everything from his mind and give it to Lord Death before he gets himself killed prematurely!" The man ordered loudly as he grabbed the woman in his arms with ease and vanished in a flash of lightning with her.

As the array of men and women in the room started toward him with angry looks, John suddenly realised that the man with the blue eyes and the hammer was the only thing keeping him safe.

* * *

"Damn you Kal, let me go!" Aphrodite spat as she struggled in her boyfriend's arms.

"Just as soon as the others have got all the information we need you can do what you like. You can make his life as miserable as possible, but until then he needs to have _some _hope." Clark said firmly.

He had teleported them back to the castle where they would wait for one of the telepaths to call them back or Clark was satisfied Aphrodite had calmed down.

"Fine." She huffed as she stepped out of his reach and straightened her ruffled gown. "I promise not to castrate the bastard too soon." She glared at him.

"Clark? Where did everyone go?" Came the voice of Cassandra.

The couple turned to see Ryan, Kusano and Cassandra standing at the door.

Josie suddenly ran up behind them, clearly out of breath. "See, I told you they'd be back!"

"It's ok Cassie, there was an incident with someone kidnapping Harry." Clark explained. "We are still all a bit jumpy after last summer so we all just reacted. I'll try to remember to remind everyone not to leave without warning again."

"Right, back to class." Josie said still fairly winded.

"Why do you run everywhere, Josie?" Clark asked curiously. "Why not teleport?"

"I refuse to be fat again." She scowled. "Harry gave me this body and I'm gonna keep it in the great shape he gave it to me."

"Why don't you ask to join the Amazons?" Clark queried.

"Oh… I'm not really… I'm not like Lana and the others… I mean I look good but nothing like them." She said with a hint of shame.

"That is… completely untrue, but even if it was, that isn't how entrance is determined." Clark pointed out.

"But I'm not as athletic as they are."

Ryan just snorted in derision. "You run everywhere! You make _us_ run everywhere! If you were an Amazon then you would be a trainer like Uncle Scott or Aunt Laura."

"There is also one small fact you all seem to be overlooking." Josie huffed. "I'm not a follower of the Greek religions."

"Neither is Kyla, she follows the Kawatche ways." Clark said with a small smile. "I'm not a follower of the Greek religions and I'm dating one of the goddesses."

"The God of the Amazons has made you the offer Josie." Aphrodite spoke up. "It is one I, as the Goddess of the Amazons fully agree with. When you feel you are ready we will welcome you, if you choose not to be one of my daughters you will still be a good friend to them."

"Clarkie, are you alright?" Kusano asked.

As they all looked to Clark they saw that he seemed fairly pale.

"Kal?" Aphrodite asked as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't mind me." He said weakly. "I just realised that one of my girlfriends comes with several hundred children… most of them are older than me."

* * *

It was a very unhappy bunch of people that hovered over the assembled citizens of the Hidden City of Homo Magi. The Homo Magi weren't blatantly racist against non-magicals but they definitely instilled a sense of superiority in themselves with how they manipulated them as they wanted.

"You people disgust me." Harry spat, his voice was quiet and filled with utter disgust, but magic made sure the entire city heard him. "You don't just play with the memories of non-magicals, you steal their children.

"You aren't even good at magic!"

"Who the hell are you?" Someone from the crowd shouted.

Harry shot to the ground causing the people to scatter as he landed in front of the man who had shouted. "I am the Master of Magic, an Avatar of Love and the Aspect known as Death." He growled.

Harry suddenly grinned evilly. "Want me to prove it? Please say yes."

Hovering in the air above the people, several members of Harry's family desperately wanted to roll their eyes or kick Harry in the arse… but they didn't want to show disrespect.

The man who had challenged Harry was quickly backing away.

"I want you to prove it."

Harry turned to see a stern looking woman glaring at him. She was middle-aged with greying brown hair.

"You want me to kill you? Or would you like me to remove your magical core?" Harry smirked.

"No. Prove to me you are an Avatar of Love." She smirked back.

Harry shook his head disappointedly. "I am an Avatar of Love because I defend love. I don't let others try to manipulate it or fake it. The only way you will see me display my status as Love's Avatar is by showing you just how much I disapprove of you people stealing a child away from its parents.

"Are you sure you want me to show you that?"

The woman just scoffed. "Any of us can do magic and anyone can kill. I have yet to meet someone who can truly make a person fall in love."

"And you never shall." Aphrodite said as she was teleported in by Cassie and her class with Clark. "I am Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, I would advise you to treat Lord Death with respect." She said calmly.

"So now he's called Lord Death?" The woman laughed derisively.

"I could kill you all here and now." Harry told her causing the crowd to gulp fearfully. "But then you wouldn't learn anything… Margaret."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "So you know my name. A cheap parlour trick."

"Actually one of my telepaths told me." He smirked as he pointed to the hovering group in the air above them. "Incidentally, can you fly?"

"_Ylf!_" She intoned and she began to rise into the air.

"Very good. Now, can you survive… everything?" Harry grinned as he rose up to meet her.

"I'm sure I can survive anything you can." She said dismissively.

Suddenly Miya and Kazehana appeared at Harry's side.

"Well, here's the deal then." He said as he took his wife's sword. "You take my daughter's sword and do what you like to me. But everything you do to me I will do to you."

Margaret frowned at him as Kazehana stood there with her sword offered.

"You want to fight me with swords?"

"No, if you want to stab me in the heart I will let you. But then I get to stab _you_ in the heart. Which ever of us survives is proven to be correct and will cede defeat, and be the new ruler of this city and its people… Governor."

Margaret scowled. "Your little tricks with telepathy are starting to annoy me child. Two can play thaAAAAAHHHHH!" Margaret screamed as a large set of claw marks slashed her face; screams erupted from the crowd as well at the sight.

Harry waved a hand, healing her and causing the crowd to look on in awe. "Are you ready? Or would you like to challenge my mental defences again?"

Margaret was enraged; she grabbed the sword and stabbed Harry through the heart angrily. The crowd watched with hope as their leader delivered a fatal blow to the invader.

"Hmm, are you sure you can survive a sword through the heart?" Harry asked calmly as he flicked the hilt of the sword sticking out of his chest.

Miya moved in front of her husband and unbuttoned his shirt before moving back to reveal the sight of the sword clearly embedded in the body of her husband; blood trickled down his stomach.

Margaret was beginning to worry.

"Oh well, tell me when you concede defeat." Harry shrugged as he raised his own sword, Miya moved behind her to keep her from moving.

Margaret was starting to worry as she felt the tip of the Japanese sword press just above her left breast through her blouse. She wasn't _that_ worried though… she was a Homo Magi.

She focused on her magic, she didn't want to give the tyrant trying to intimidate her the satisfaction of hearing her use an incantation. There was a reason she was the Governor of the Hidden City after all.

"OW!"

"Problem, Margaret?" Harry asked as a smile played at the corner of his lips as he carefully continued to apply more pressure. A small patch of red blood could be seen spreading out on her white blouse.

"What have you done to me?" Margaret asked as fear set in.

"I've shut off your magic. Something that only the Master of Magic could really do. Nothing like someone trying to bind a person's magic, bindings are temperamental; someone could break them. But if I remove your connection to magic… well, that's irreversible for anyone but me, and only possible for me, the Master of Magic."

"You'll kill me!"

"You agreed to my terms, Margaret. Whatever you do to me I can do to you. You put a sword through my heart and now I will put one through yours. Like I told you, you can always cede defeat."

"I concede! I concede!" She screamed.

"Hardly seems fair to me." Harry sighed as he lowered the katana. "I did let you put a sword in my heart. Seems only fair I get to do the same."

Margaret began to sag in relief.

Harry suddenly looked her in the eye with a grin. "You know what? I want my turn."

Margaret screamed in horror as Harry raised the sword and plunged it into her chest with a sickening squelch.

She screamed for a good thirty seconds before she realised that:

a) No sound was coming out of her mouth.

b) There wasn't any pain.

c) She wasn't dead.

Then she realised that she couldn't hear the crowd either.

"Are you finished?" Harry asked with a put upon sigh. She wasn't screaming so Harry removed the silencing charm. "Let's go with the obvious questions, shall we? You aren't dead because I am Death, and you have a lot to answer for before I grant you access to the after life. There wasn't any pain because as the Master of Magic I can control your body completely, including pain receptors. Any more questions?"

Margaret just shook her head fearfully.

Harry turned to look down at the cowering citizens. "Anyone? Questions?"

The voice of a little boy floated up. "Are you going to kill us all sir?"

"Hush Jacob!" Came the mother's reprimand.

"Why would I kill you?" Harry asked as he gently floated himself, Miya, Kazehana and Margaret down to the ground in front of the scared boy and his petrified mother.

"That's what Death does… doesn't he?" The boy asked as he cowered behind his mother's skirts.

"I am Death." Harry said kindly. "I am one of the Aspects of Existence along with Time, Love and Magic. Nobody tells an Aspect what to do. Aspects like myself decide what we do and I decided a long time ago that I would always work to make sure that people died when they were supposed to. That bad people who like to kill others die quickly and that good little children live long happy lives.

"So no, Jacob. I'm not going to kill you all. I'm going to protect you and make you into something better than you have been."

"Better?"

Harry smiled. "Everyone I've met in the city so far uses incantations to do magic. I can teach them how to do it all with just a thought." He said as he waved a hand causing the boy to turn into a Labrador puppy.

The mother gasped with the crowd but Harry ignored them as he began rubbing the puppy behind the ears before flipping it over and tickling its tummy. He then waved a hand to reveal a giggling little boy on his back.

"See? I prefer people don't die before their time." Harry smiled at the boy.

Harry stood up and stretched before he noticed he still had the sword in his heart. "Oops. Miya, could you come and get your sword?"

Miya strolled forward calmly and slowly removed the sword. Harry cleaned the blood and did his shirt up before turning to Margaret who was still being held by Kazehana.

He grabbed the sword and sent a smirk at the terrified woman. "Don't worry, this will only hurt if I want it to." He then ripped the sword from her body causing her to gasp in shock.

Margaret looked down at her chest and saw that her blouse was repaired and that there was no blood.

She looked at Harry with a disgusted look. "An illusion?"

Behind her Kazehana just scoffed. "Stupid bitch."

"Language sweetie." Harry chided gently as he indicated little Jacob nearby.

"Sorry Daddy." She blushed. "Sorry Jacob." She told the little boy.

"Now then Margaret, let's go inside and talk about how I want you to serve the people." Harry said sternly.

Kazehana spun the older woman around and pushed her towards the large building that served as the city's seat of power. Behind them Harry, Miya, Brunhilde, Clark and Aphrodite followed.

"_Harry, Margaret has managed to obscure her thoughts. Should we dig?"_ Came Jean's voice over the Avenger's communicators. This allowed the Sekirei, Clark and Aphrodite to remain in the loop.

"Yes." Harry said out loud and clearly as they marched up the steps.

"What?" Margaret asked worriedly.

"I just told my friends, the telepaths to dig deep into your mind past the defences you just tried to put up." Harry smirked as Margaret's fear became obvious.

"So we aren't allowed privacy under your 'rule'?" She asked mockingly as they walked through the large double doors.

"Sure you are. Once you've taken a magical oath to never use your magic to harm others."

"I'm sure that won't be necessary." She said smugly, this caused Kazehana to go on alert and grab her roughly. "It's too late for that girl." She taunted Number 3. "Your Master has _sealed_ his fate."

Harry suddenly fell to his knees as lightning started to expel from his body. "What is this?" He asked painfully.

"Did you really think we didn't have fail-safes to deal with invaders, even magical ones?"

Miya looked at Harry and suddenly realised what Miya had said. Harry had 'sealed' his fate. He was currently standing in the middle of the entry way and there was a seal on the floor. She had no idea what was happening or what it did but she knew it was hurting her husband.

"Superman! We need you in here." She said over her comm.

A flash of lighting and a clap of thunder revealed the red and blue hero.

"What happened?" Superman demanded as he looked at Harry carefully.

"Harry walked across the seal and… this happened." Miya said worriedly.

Superman walked up to Harry only to be repelled as he tried to breach the seal. "Harry, can you hear me?"

"Oh god yes!" Harry grunted in pain.

"What is happening to you?"

Harry gave an almost hysterical bark of laughter. "Emma once asked me what would happen if- SWEET MERCIFUL- if I ever entered an area with no ma- AAAAHH- gic. We're about to find out!"

Superman turned and glared at Margaret. "Your fate is sealed. Miya, ensure her safety until Harry is ready, it looks like Minaka is about to get a cell mate."

Superman turned back to Harry. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Oh, I don't know?" Harry said mockingly. "How about clearing everyone to a safe distance?"

"How far?"

"Oa ought to do it."

"You're not helping!" Superman snapped.

"Neither are you! But that's because you _can't_ help me. We've just got to let this happen."

"Why isn't he dead? Any magical that enters the seal is killed." Margaret demanded.

Superman raised an eyebrow. "Attention, no one is to enter the building. There is a possible cataclysmic event about to occur and the introduction of any more individuals may make it a certainty." He commanded over the comm.

"It will?" Miya asked.

"I have no idea." Superman admitted. "But I really don't want to deal with Akitsu trying to break in to save her dad."

"He can't last much longer." Margaret sneered. "All that magic he is emitting, he'll run out soon and he _will_ die."

A burst of lightning suddenly smashed through the ceiling of the building leaving a large hole as it struck the shielding that held Harry in the seal.

"Lana, get Miya, Kazehana and the prisoner out of here." Superman ordered.

"How did you know I was here?" Lana asked as she dropped her invisibility and silencing charms.

"Souls Lana, I can feel them. Now go!" He snapped.

"What about you Clark?" Harry asked. "This is magic, it can hurt you."

"So you'll just fix me up. Someone has to be here just in case and I refuse to dishonour Asgard by abandoning you."

"Thor will be so proud." Harry said glibly before the shield was struck by another bolt.

"This lightning, I think I can intercept it." Superman said as he examined the hole in the roof.

"I wouldn't, that's not lightning, its magic trying to reach me." Harry was exhausted as he lay on his back. "It will eventually breach the shield and release me… it won't be very pleased though."

Suddenly the external lightning began to increase as bolt after bolt pounded into the shield making the hole in the roof larger and larger until the shield suddenly burst in a blinding light.

All Superman could see was darkness; all he could hear was silence.

"Harry? Are you there? Harry!" He called out.

"Superman, hold on we're right here." He heard Jean's voice calming him from beside him.

"Are you ok? Can you make some lights, we need to find Harry I can feel him here somewhere."

There was a moment's silence.

Jean's voice suddenly sounded tense and worried. "Clark, it's daylight, your eyes have been damaged and you have gone blind."

"Would it help if I told you your dog died?" Superman asked curiously.

Jean just laughed. "Lie down so I can lean over your eyes and cry."

Fortunately Jean did not need to be told her fictional dog died just to make healing tears. Superman was soon back on his feet and blinking in the bright sunlight.

This was a problem considering he was still inside the building, one that originally had very little in the way of windows.

Of course the building was just a bunch of foundations and rubble now.

"What happened?" Superman asked.

"The building… vaporised." Jean shrugged.

Superman started walking forward. "This is where Harry is… but he's getting bigger."

"Bigger?"

"Whatever I can feel from Harry is spreading outwards. Where's Aphrodite? Call in the Flash we need to know what the other Aspects are saying now that we can't seem to reach Death and Magic directly."

"They are coming in now."

"_Hello? Can you hear me?"_

"Harry? Where are you?" Superman called out to the disembodied voice.

"_Not quite sure. I can see you and Jean but I am seeing a lot of stuff."_

"What happened, why can't we see your soul?"

"_Well… um… you know how I used to be the Master of Magic?"_

"'Used to be'?" Superman demanded with wide eyes.

"_Yeah, Magic didn't really like the fact that I could be taken away from it so it… did something."_

"Harry." Came the annoyed and impatient response.

"_It joined with me ok! It decided that it was never going to let me get away so it became a part of me, now I am currently trying to cope with knowing where all the major occurrences of magic are happening. It is not easy!"_

"Can't you just create a body and do it from there?" Jean asked.

"_I need a few hours before I can concentrate enough. Talking to you is a bit of a chore right now."_

"Jean, can you go and check in with the Phoenix Council, find out what they know? Also send someone back to Loki's world, see if there is any news from there." Superman requested.

Jean nodded and vanished in a burst of flame.

"Akitsu is going to kick your ass Harry!"

"_Thank god I don't currently have one."_

* * *

It was nearly an hour later that Kyla returned from the mission she was given by Jean.

"I found Barry." She announced as she teleported in carrying the fastest man alive in her arms.

"What happened to him?" Helen asked as she quickly stepped up and began examining him.

"I do not know. He was passed out on his kitchen floor. I couldn't wake him but I also couldn't find anything wrong with him. Do you think it is connected to Harry?"

"Beyond my pay-grade." Helen sighed. "Anyone else know a better diagnostic system?" She asked the rest of the castle residents.

"He is experiencing his first direct commune with his Aspect." Aphrodite explained. "He is very young and inexperienced, unfortunately Time also has no experience with Avatars as Barry is the first. He will recover."

"Has Love been talking to you?" Superman asked.

"Yes, she has been explaining what has happened to Lord Death. There are now two Aspects in one entity, this is a huge event as Harry Potter now has no known equals, Love and Time do not just respect and love him, they will submit to his decisions."

"Why? How did this happen?" Lana asked.

"_Because Magic has always been like a puppy."_ Came Harry's disembodied voice. _"It loves to be used and played with, given lots of attention by children. But it also sought safety and comfort from me… because I was the Master of Magic. Like the name suggests, I was its Master. When it thought it had lost me it tracked me down, it finally reached me and decided it didn't like me vanishing so it… became one with me."_

"Ahh… you married your dog."

"_Shut up Dad."_

"My head is killing me!" Barry groaned from Kyla's arms. "But the view certainly helps." He said as he grinned up at the Kawatche born Amazon.

Unfortunately he couldn't help his eyes dropping down to her cleavage.

The now annoyed Amazon summarily dumped him on the floor.

"Ow." He said with a glare... he quickly backed off when he saw the glare the entire female contingent was giving him. "Alright, I was sent to speed up this whole integration thing for Lord Death, where is he?" Barry asked as he looked around.

"What do you mean 'sent'? I carried your lard ass." Kyla reminded him.

"I would have been here anyway. Well, where is his Grim Reaperness?"

"_All around you Barry."_

"Hooooleeey!" Barry jumped. "That's worse than the whole mental talking thing." Barry rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How am I supposed to speed him up if I can't touch him?"

"Harry, pull yourself together and create a body." Clark ordered, he was out of uniform for now. "Barry was sent to help so help him help you!"

"_Damned pushy kids."_ They heard him mumble. _"Hold still Clark, I'm using you as a focus."_

"Wouldn't one of your soul mates be better?" Clark asked.

"_First this is a matter for Aspects and Avatars, I need our connection. Second… they wouldn't survive and you might. Brace yourself kid, this will hurt!"_

* * *

"You've got a problem Luthor." General Lane scowled as he walked into the conference room of the hidden base.

"Which Luthor?" Lex asked.

"Senior. Someone's digging into your past and they are coming up with some very interesting facts." Lane tossed a folder across the table to Lionel.

Lionel thumbed through the folder with a frown. "I wasn't aware there were any leads for this."

"That's the problem with you Luthors. You think you are infallible. Sort this out or I won't be able to protect you."

"Do you know _who_ is doing the digging?"

"No, they hide their tracks well."

* * *

"Mr. Madrox is here to see you, Prime Minister."

"Excellent, send him in quickly."

A few moments later and Jamie Madrox entered the office of the Prime Minister of Japan.

"Mr. Madrox, thank you for coming."

"My pleasure Mr. Prime Minister." Jamie said in perfect Japanese… something he had picked up millennia ago when he had sent his dupes out into the world. "As you know Lord Death was kidnapped and subsequently attacked. He is… I guess 'currently indisposed' is the only way to put it. He is not injured or dead but he is having some trouble dealing with his new situation as the actual Aspect Magic as opposed to its master."

"Forgive my possible insensitivity but will this affect the average magical user, I ask as we have several special hospitals dealing with certain cases and there maybe some… tragic incidents if they can't use magic for healing."

"So far none of us has had trouble using magic, I think Harry's problem is trying to acclimatise to his new awareness, he is seeing through the eyes of Magic and Magic is everywhere. He might be able to see in here." Jamie mused mostly to himself.

"Obviously a discussion for those above us." The Prime Minister said tiredly. "What of the forces securing this… Hidden City?" He asked as he checked his notes.

"North Korean troops have moved in and instituted Martial Law. They have a far better grasp of magic than these so-called 'Homo Magi'; they still use incantations and elaborate gestures. Harry's magicals only use gestures as a method of directional focus."

"Is there any chance this attack was part of a retaliation for what occurred at the United Nations today?"

"I suppose it could be, we will soon find out though. These people were informed who and what Harry is. They still tried to attack him, the reports I have been given are that there are several Phoenixes and gods walking through the streets and looking for troublemakers to smite." Jamie smirked. "If it wasn't bad enough that Loki and Sif are both fairly pissed, Heimdall came over too."

"Lord Death's son, the giant?" The Prime Minister was shocked.

"Yeah, he's not an actual giant, he's just really big. Which always bugs the hell out of me as Harry's fairly short." Jamie scowled.

The Prime Minister exhaled deeply. "I apologise, I still find the casual and light-hearted way Lord Death and his friends deal with these tense situations hard to accept. I am fighting all my instincts to put the country and the military on high alert but I can do nothing because of the ignorance of the world and _would_ do nothing because the Great August One would not approve.

"I have faith enough, but I still worry."

"You're only what, 57? We've been doing this for thousands of years. These days when we find out about an invasion we wind up drawing lots to see who gets to deal with it."

* * *

Clark Kent was not a happy person. Neither were his soul mate and Sekirei.

Harry Potter was feeling fairly ganged up on as all of them including his own family were glaring at him.

"You had better fix this Harry." Kyla glared at him.

"It'll take me sometime. I can give him some clothes whilst-"

"Don't you dare!" Matsu shrieked.

Poor Clark was nothing but a disembodied soul… a _naked_ disembodied soul… a naked disembodied soul standing in the middle of the city square surrounded by… lots of people… most of them gods.

"Should we really allow the Amazons to talk to Lord Death in such a way?" Artemis quietly asked Aphrodite.

"They are family." Aphrodite smirked. "This is no different than when we would throw tantrums at Father."

There was a very un-lady-like snort from their left. "I believe our sister is living vicariously through her daughters as she is not entirely pleased with Lord Death either." Athena said dryly.

"It is hardly his fault." Artemis rose to the defence of the Aspect. "With out Kal-El's sacrifice he would have been disembodied for years… possibly centuries."

"I do not believe that the sacrifice is what upsets them, merely the lack of warning."

"It is an interesting sight though, the soul of a god. He seems almost corporeal." Artemis said as she stared at the naked Clark.

"Even Thor's soul was not that strong." Aphrodite assured them. "Kal is more than a mere god. He is more than an Avatar, he is more than the Apprentice of Death… he is Death's brother."

"He certainly displays a familiarity with the Aspect that not even Father would dare." Athena said as they watched a heated argument between the disembodied God of Thunder and Death. "None of us would dare let behaviour like that stand and even now I feel compelled to berate Kal for his disrespect."

"But it is not disrespect." Aphrodite corrected with a soft smile. "It is love, only love can allow them to talk to each other so and not drive a wedge between them."

* * *

"Thank god!" Clark groaned as he touched his watch, the only piece of clothing he was re-made with thanks to Harry. He felt relief as his costume morphed around him.

There was a distinct groaning of females from all around him.

"You are such a baby." Harry grumbled. "Don't you sleep naked surrounded by women?"

"Who are technically my wives!"

Harry waved dismissively. "Semantics."

"Anyway, what's the deal with that connection between our souls?"

Whilst in his ethereal form it was clear there was a very strong link between Clark and Harry.

"We have so many links now, Apprentice, Avatar, brothers."

"I thought the brother thing was only for human legal matters?"

"One of the quirks of being us I guess. I have a very mild connection to Thor and Loki as their godfather." Harry shrugged.

"Now that you had to build him a new body couldn't you give him magic?" Jodie asked from where she and the rest of Cassandra's class where observing.

"I… don't think I need to." Harry mused. "He seems to be saturated with magic, he doesn't have a core just like I don't, he'll just have to experiment."

"Am I going to wind up teleporting in my sleep?" Clark asked with narrowed eyes.

"I'll put some wards up on your room." Harry sighed.


	50. Chapter 50

Once Harry had his body back and fixed Clark he had practically screamed at the entire city about their behaviour. Utilising magic he was able to speak to every citizen of _every_ age.

Miya stood behind him with her ladle, poised to attack… just in case her husband got carried away.

Having told them off and informing them of how things were going to be from now on he left them in the hands of his North Korean government.

Amara was stuck at the Themiscyran Embassy in Japan dealing with the ambassadors from the countries that she had publicly offered to take part in investigating the Martian Situation and trying to ignore the threats from the rest of the world.

The newspapers and TV pundits were having a field day raising public hysteria over life on Mars that may or may not be a threat and of course, they were intent on crucifying the Japanese-North Korean-Themiscyran alliance for excluding the rest of the world because they were so 'sensitive'.

Harry had made it quite clear to Amara when he gave her the task of informing the UN about Mars that he had a zero tolerance policy for morons, insults and threats, anyone who was less than polite was to be excluded.

Loki would have been helping as well but she had something that required her personal touch. Chloe had come to her with evidence that wasn't a result of her truth ability that proved Lionel Luthor had murdered his parents for insurance money to start his business. Loki had told her that their best course of action was to take the evidence to the authorities.

"I don't understand why Harry doesn't just kill Lex and Lionel and impersonate them or something. He's killed people for less." Chloe asked with frustration.

"Eliminating Lex and Lionel will not solve the problem. We need to deal with LuthorCorp as a whole, killing the Luthors will leave a vacuum and considering what we know about LuthorCorp practices we should assume that whoever takes over will be just as twisted."

"Will they need me to testify? Can they keep my identity secret?" Chloe asked.

"I imagine you will need to testify, they will try to keep your identity hidden but we both know that the government is filled with corruption. You're safety and identity will be at risk."

"Nothing new there."

"You're doing the right thing Chloe." Gabriel spoke up from the other side of Chloe. "Our Lex deserves justice and so do all the people they've wronged."

"Do you think you could get them to let me interrogate the Luthors on the stand?" Chloe asked with an evil grin. "Imagine the secrets I could get them to spill with my abilities."

"Brings a whole new meaning to the oath: the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Gabriel chuckled.

Loki smiled but shook her head. "That won't be possible, but we will work on how to answer questions with a question. You can't question the Luthors but there isn't any reason you can't weasel information from the lawyers."

* * *

Chloe was clearly not going to be able to join the girls on their world tour of nursing schools for Lana. She insisted that they still go and she would join them when she could. The current group going was Lana, Kyla and Chiho. The Cuckoos had begged off saying that they wanted to relax and spend sometime on the farms.

Travelling in human cities was a bit of a chore for the Cuckoos. They were assaulted by the thoughts of the city's millions of residents and visitors and the strongest ones were usually lecherous fantasies directed at them. The residents of Smallville knew them well enough by now that they were just another set of siblings.

It helped that no one wanted to get on the wrong side of Principal Frost and Coach Summers, their official parents.

Clark discovered that the Sekirei were instituting their own rota for guarding him. Miya had attempted to use a volunteer system but Musubi and Tsukiumi both wanted to spend everyday with him. Occasionally he would ask his current bodyguard to swap out with someone else if he needed their abilities, often this mean switching someone out for Matsu.

Today was such an instance when he received a call from The Vision to meet him at the Kawatche Caves.

"Clark, Matsu, thank you for coming." The Vision greeted them with Brunhilde. "I have come as far as I can with the Jor-El AI and I believe we can now begin to allow interaction between the two of you." He told Clark.

"What exactly have you done?" Matsu asked.

"Not as much as I hoped." Vision admitted. "I managed to code some simple laws of preservation of life and liberty but I have yet to convince it that it is wrong. It still believes you are to conquer the world." He told Clark.

"If this fails we'll call it a loss and scrap it for parts." Clark decided.

"Are you sure Clark? This could be your last link to your birth parents." Brunhilde asked with care.

"Anyone who says I should rule a civilisation like Earth through might and fear isn't worth the time."

"Harry does it." Matsu argued.

"No, he storms in and takes over but he doesn't rule with fear. He brings hope and safety to the people." Brunhilde corrected.

"He has been known to use intimidation, but that depends solely on the nature of the civilisation involved." The Vision added. "The Skrulls and the Breakworlders both required a persistent show of force."

"It doesn't matter, I don't trust Jor-El and I have no intention of doing something because he says I should. He hasn't earned my trust one bit." Clark said firmly. "Let's boot him up and see what happens."

The Vision opened a box he was holding to reveal the key to the ship that he offered to Clark. Clark held the key in the palm of his hand and they watched as it floated into the air on its own before shooting into the recess in the cave wall.

A crack in the cave wall formed and a blinding light bled out. Brunhilde waved her hand causing the light to dim.

Matsu looked at her curiously.

Brunhilde just smiled. "There is no known scientific reason that there should be a light that bright coming from the system in the cave. Therefore it is likely just to inspire awe. Logan made that spell when he got tired of wannabe challengers to Harry's power."

"Have you decided to talk like a civilised person, Jor-El?" Clark asked clearly.

"Kal-El my son-"

"Why don't we try with honesty, Jor-El?" Clark interrupted. "_You_ are not my father. _You_ are a poorly made artificial intelligence."

"I am an imprint of Jor-El."

"Yes. But Jor-El is dead. Now, are you going to cooperate or do we strip you down to components?"

"You have not changed your mind on fulfilling your destiny." The AI said with disappointment.

"I have not changed my mind on fulfilling _your_ interpretation of my destiny. I will rule this planet, make no mistake." Clark said firmly as he stepped forward. "But I will do it my way. I will turn Earth into a beacon of hope for the universe and other planets will _beg_ to be led by me."

There was a moment's silence from the cave.

"We have an accord."

Matsu raised an eyebrow. With her ability to access systems she had often assisted Laura, Brunhilde and The Vision when working on the AI. She never expected to hear the AI compromise or Clark say he intended to conquer the planet.

"You must still perform certain tasks." The AI continued. "There are items of great power and knowledge that are spread across the planet that you must find before they can fall into human hands."

"What items?" Brunhilde asked.

"There are three stones of power that contain all the knowledge of the 28 galaxies. When combined they will form the Stone of Knowledge. They were made in case the race of Kryptonians could ever be resurrected. When they are discovered they will emit a beacon of the House of El meant for Kal-El so that he may claim them."

"And you have no idea where they are now." Brunhilde sighed.

"It is imperative that these stones be found by you Kal-El." The AI stated firmly.

"Do you at least know what they look like and any other abilities they have? How they got to Earth or even what they are made of?" The Vision demanded.

"What purpose would this knowledge serve?"

"We could search the Internet for images of the stones as well as the chronicles of history. If they were sent to Earth through space then knowing when they were sent and the speed they travelled would enable us to determine where they landed. If we know what they are made of we can construct sensors to detect them." The Vision said with a hint of irritation.

"I will give this information to Kal-El."

Nobody had a chance to respond as a beam of light shot out of the cave and lifted Clark off the ground. Matsu moved to help her Ashikabi but Brunhilde held her back.

Clark was obviously struggling against the hold the AI had on him and Matsu was now struggling against the stronger Valkyrie to get to him.

"Patience child. Some battles are Clark's alone." She said soothingly.

It was little comfort to a Sekirei who loved her Ashikabi.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning shot out from Clark's chest and into the cave causing the beam to vanish and leaving Clark floating on his own power as he glared at the console.

"Vision, Brunhilde… feel free to rip the computer out of there and do what you want with it. I am finished with Jor-El."

"Clark!" Matsu threw her arms around him. "What was he doing?"

"He gave me the knowledge of the stones but then he tried to implant something else… a new personality. If my birth father would really do something like that to me then I want nothing to do with him."

It was clear Clark was emotionally hurt by yet another attack from his biological father. Matsu just held him tighter.

* * *

An indictment had been filed against Lionel Luthor by the City of Metropolis for the murder of his parents. Chloe was currently the FBI's favourite person and they had at least one set of agents shadowing her at all times for her safety.

They sucked at stealth as even Chiho managed to spot them. Unfortunately it also meant Chloe couldn't use magic around them.

With things quietening down Harry raised a subject with his family and the Kents.

"I need to take Clark on a trip. A very important trip, I'm not sure how long we will be gone though as we will be travelling on my power only."

"You need to travel in time?" Neville asked.

"I need to visit Ignotus Perverell… and his brothers."

Xander and Neville stared at him with wide eyes.

"I never thought of that." Xander chuckled. "I wonder if you would have done it even if Nicky hadn't told you you had."

"I would have." Harry said adamantly. "I can feel the pull."

"For those of us not in the know… ?" Emma asked.

"When I became Death properly it was because of three special items called the Deathly Hallows. An unbeatable wand, a stone that could summon the dead from the other side and a cloak of invisibility. These gifts were given to three brothers who had outsmarted death and then passed down from generation to generation.

"As of this point in my timeline, I haven't actually dispensed these gifts. I need to do it fairly soon."

"I thought you were always Death?" Kyla queried.

"It's one of those time travel things." Neville spoke up before Harry could respond. "So-called 'higher beings' like gods and phoenixes can barely grasp the concepts of time travel. Harry can't do it without major amounts of alcohol!"

"This is one of those things that would make our brains drip out our ears, isn't it?" Matsu asked.

"For someone like you it could put you in a coma." Harry said seriously. "Your analytical mind would get caught in an infinite loop trying to solve the puzzle."

"For first hand accounts see The Vision." Dani said with a grimace.

"Dani, all he can tell them is he doesn't remember a certain time of his life." Scott pointed out. "The second they mention trying to understand how various timelines resolve themselves he'll change the subject."

"You make it sound like you re-programmed him. I thought you wouldn't do that to an AI like The Vision." Lana frowned.

"Actually we consider The Vision an AL, Artificial Life Form."

"Or Alf." Xander grinned.

Scott just glared at him. "Adding a new set of sub-routines was the only way to save him. He knows we added them and why, he also knows not to try and look too deeply into them."

Chloe gave a sudden grunt of annoyance causing everyone to look at her curiously. "Sorry, I was trying to work out how the cycle of Harry being Death works… it really does give you a headache." She blushed.

"Why do you need Clark?" Matsu asked.

Harry sighed thoughtfully before answering. "What I am going to do is very important, it is a defining moment of not just my existence but the entirety of existence. Clark should be there to witness it as my Apprentice and brother."

There was a loud sniffle. "You're not taking me? Your dear old pappy?" He said as he mimicked crying.

He stopped suddenly as he found himself being comforted by Kusano.

"Don't cry Grandfather." She said as she stroked his head like the adults did when she was sad.

"Aw Ku, I was just playing." Xander grinned. "But thank you for caring for me." He said as he kissed her head and pulled her to sit on his lap so she could see the room.

"This is going to be something unique." Harry said seriously. "I thought about who I could bring and it felt wrong for everyone but Clark. But don't worry, we can show you the memories when we get back."

* * *

Harry and Clark didn't waste anytime and they left the following morning. Harry had wanted to leave that night but he was faced with several very angry women… most of them his wives.

"So what year is this?" Clark asked as they appeared outside an old castle that looked just like Harry's in his home universe.

"About 1210, this should give us enough time to get ready for the Perverell brothers." Harry nodded in approval as he surveyed the castle.

"And when will they be by?"

"In about forty to fifty years."

"WHAT!"

"You heard me." Harry smirked.

"Is this another one of your tests?" Clark scowled.

"Yep, you and I are going to spend the next half a century here building up the persona of Death. You will use the time to train yourself and get used to being without your girlfriends. Who knows, you might even get a new girlfriend."

"I hate you Harry." Clark scowled.

* * *

Chloe was not enjoying her time as a star witness for the prosecution. The FBI had decided she and her dad were in far too much danger and insisted on moving her to a safe house for the duration of the trial. This meant she would be away from her friends and her sisters, but Amara had requested she do it and there was no way an Amazon would go against their Queen… not one who was an equal to their goddess.

They pulled up to the out of the way house in government SUVs and Chloe and Gabriel were ushered inside. Ten seconds later and the place was decimated by an explosion.

When the smoke and debris cleared, lying in the middle of the wreckage was a naked little baby girl crying her eyes out as the soul of her father sang to her softly, even though she couldn't hear him.

Suddenly several women appeared, Kyla, Helen and Tess.

"Oh my god, is this Chloe?" Kyla asked as Helen gingerly picked up the baby and began checking it.

"Yes, she must have been killed and reborn." Helen confirmed. "Where's Gabriel?"

Tess threw out a hand and cast a spell to find any living beings.

"No one survived." She said sadly. "Let's get out of here before the authorities arrive."

* * *

Harry looked up as the door to his and Clark's home opened and shut. They'd been living in the current time period for nearly ten years. Clark was highly proficient with magic now; he found that he could do everything that a regular magical user could except on a greater scale. He was nowhere near Harry's level of power but he could level buildings with a magical blast.

The only apparent difference was that most of his spells seemed to be infused with an element of his divinity, a combination of how gods and goddesses like Aphrodite use magic. It also meant his stealth sucked as most of his spells and magic was accompanied by lightning. He still had trouble with going invisible.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked from where he was reading scroll of parchment.

"Pretty well, they are burning all the bodies of pests they find." Clark said as he sat down in the living room.

The whole room was filled with pictures the pair had conjured of their family.

"The plague will probably still happen but hopefully the death toll will be a lot smaller." Harry sighed.

Clark and Harry had spent a lot of their time discussing what they could change without insulting the Aspect of Time. They did what they could but tried to restrain their impulses to save the whole world. This led to Clark trying to help out with the start of the plagues.

"I was thinking of going on a trip for a while." Clark said seriously.

"How long is a while?"

"Maybe a decade or two."

"Why would you need- you want to see if there is a Krypton in this world!" Harry laughed. "I told you there was no other life in this universe."

"No, but the planet might be there. Or there might be a system in its place. I'm just curious. I might see what is supposed to be where Oa is."

"Well just remember to come home each night for dinner at least." Harry insisted.

* * *

With the attack on the Sullivans a lot of decisions had to be made. Gabriel and Chloe's funeral needed to be arranged and an explanation for how Chloe would come back from the grave was also needed.

"Can't we hold off the funeral until Chloe is older?" Lana asked. "She's going to want to say goodbye to her father."

"No, we will arrange a standard funeral for them both but when Chloe is ready we will honour him with a ceremony on Themiscyra." Amara promised.

"I'll handle the funeral." Lorna said quietly. She knew Gabriel the best and enjoyed the man's sweet nature. She would also have to inform Chloe's mother of his passing.

"Thank you Lorna." Scott said heavily, this event weighed on them all. "Now we just need a suitable story for Chloe's survival."

"Jean, as she grows up she can learn like a normal child, right?" Kyla asked curiously.

"Oh yes, its how she learns to talk and walk."

"So if she was to learn another language do you think she would retain it when she remembers who she is?"

Jean smiled in realisation. Chloe had been struggling to learn Japanese fluently so she didn't have to rely on the translation charm.

"She could also learn a few languages. You're proposing sending her to Japan and claiming we sent her there for protection?" Jean asked.

"It's a good plan." Xander mused. "The Prime Minister already offered sanctuary when he heard Chloe's situation, we can just say she survived the explosion and took her to Japan for treatment, it would be better if we pretended she was dead for now though."

"I was thinking that she could stay at that resort MBI owns, its private and the Sekirei and Ashikabi know about us so we wouldn't have to worry about explaining how she is growing up so fast." Kyla explained.

"I would be happy to take care of her." Neville spoke up. "I wanted to give Pamela some more exposure to the world and this sounds like a good time."

"I'll work with Takami and the Prime Minister to sort out the details." Loki offered.

"School is out next week, when are you girls headed off on your world tour?" Dani asked happily.

Lana and Kyla shared a sad look.

"We were going to leave it until next year so Chloe could join us." Lana answered.

"She will remember her childhood." Neville said pointedly. "Take her with you."

"But we can't explain how she will be older before we leave the country, what about passports?"

"Forget conventional methods." Dani scoffed. "Travel with magic and use conjured passports. You aren't looking to cause trouble or commit crimes so the authorities don't need to worry about you."

* * *

Clark had managed to travel all the way to Krypton in about five years. He had used the journey to push his limits on his speed. He didn't travel everyday as Harry had insisted he spend the weekends at home on Earth. All he found at Krypton's location was the expected red sun system but no signs of life. He was now headed to Oa.

"What did you do today?" Clark asked as he sat down at the dinner table when he had teleported home for the day.

"I took a trip into Hogwarts. Put some spells on Slinky the Basilisk so it can't harm anyone with its eyes, just petrify them." Harry answered with a shrug.

"Won't that affect the future in a substantial way?"

"One person died as a result of Slinky being released. I set the charms to wear off about the time I am born and they are linked to my magical signature."

"Harry, why don't we just make a side trip on our way home and make sure that one person survives due to an explainable reason rather than causing you and your family a headache in trying to explain the improbable. Besides, you'll wind up giving the person a reputation like you had."

"I'll make a note then." Harry sighed.

Neither man had made any close friends and Clark stayed clear of any women on purpose as he had no desire to fall in love only to break his heart when had to leave.

Harry spent a lot of time travelling the world and helping people as they reached the end of their lives, fulfilling his role as Death.

* * *

Lionel Luthor sat in his cell in the super-max prison with his head shaved bald. He knew the hit on the Sullivans was a success but he couldn't understand why the charges hadn't been dropped.

He had called Lex to meet him but that had been nearly a week ago. He had finally turned up with a smug smile.

"You've become too much of a liability Dad." Lex said condescendingly. "All these charges laid against you over the past few years have damaged the companies image. That is why I gave the FBI all the files I could find on your parents as well as any other evidence I had of crimes you have committed."

"A coup, Lex?" Lionel scoffed. "You can't honestly believe that I won't beat these charges."

"You will try, but every time you make some headway a new piece of evidence will crop up." Lex said dismissively.

"What is it you want Lex?" Lionel asked seriously.

"Want? I have what I want, Dad. I have LuthorCorp, I have you out of the way and I have all the information you had on Veritas."

Lionel's eyes widened. "Careful Lex. I don't know how you found out about Veritas but you are beginning to delve into things that are very dangerous."

"More dangerous than a being capable of shooting fire from his eyes and lifting buildings with his bare hands? Don't bother calling on me again, Dad. We are through." Lex turned and headed for the exit. "If I'm feeling generous I might attend your funeral." He paused as he put his hand on the knob. "Try not to make it occur too soon." He said pointedly.

* * *

"I've travelled for some time, far beyond Oa and Krypton and there doesn't seem to be any form of life, not even bacteria." Clark sighed as he sat down at the dinner table they had been there for forty years now. "How is that even possible?"

"I have a theory, but it's fairly flimsy… just the only theory I can think of."

"Alright… let's hear it." Clark offered.

"All life in this universe was tied to me, I never saw the need to travel beyond the planet unless life was already out there. As a result, no life developed elsewhere."

Clark frowned. "Do you have _any_ supporting evidence?"

"We did attempt to colonise a few planets. Only one took and it was the one I decided to live on personally for a few centuries… it died a few centuries after I returned to Earth."

"I suppose its possible." Clark mused doubtfully.

"Like I said: flimsy."

* * *

"Diana, why haven't you been home in the past week?" Amara asked as she greeted her Princess and sister wife on the Amaterasu.

Kusano was currently hugging Diana. "We wanted to prepare to return home, we've done what we set out to do and we all want to spend substantial time with our families."

Amara could see a lot of the crew nodding; this meant the request she needed to make was a lot harder. "Harry and Clark have gone on a trip through time and space. They aren't back yet but they hopefully won't be too long. We were hoping you could take a detour to Oa until they return so Superman can be there to greet you."

Diana was incredulous. "Why would they go now?! They knew we were due to return."

"Harry was feeling a pull, much like when he travelled back and became embroiled in the Sekirei situation. He didn't have much of a choice."

"But why take Clark? If Superman was still here we could have returned."

"Again, Harry felt a pull."

Diana sighed. "Amara, I can't ask my crew to stay out for what might turn into weeks."

"We will stay if it is required of us, Commander." The ships Chief Scientist from Japan said respectfully. The others nodded resolutely.

"I know you would, and I appreciate it but it doesn't make it right, Lord Death and Lord Kal-El would not want you to do this, they would want you home with your families." Diana turned back to Amara. "There has to be a way to fix this. Could we not have someone impersonate Superman? He is the only one needed to be present."

"We would need to ask permission from Odin." Amara said thoughtfully. "We can't just go around impersonating gods."

"I would be willing to make the request myself." Diana said firmly.

"I will speak with Loki, and ask her to arrange a meeting."

* * *

Harry and Clark had observed the journey the three Perverell brothers had made through what was known as Death's Territory. It stretched from the Welsh Brecon Beacons all the way to Bath in England. Nobody magical or non-magical dared venture through the territory for fear of being attacked or killed.

Any bandits that entered the area looking to find innocent individuals to harass ended up on the borders of the territory. Well their heads did. The same happened to pirates that tried to sail up the Severn River between Wales and England.

Any innocent who accidentally stumbled into the area found themselves on the border nearest their destination with no recollection of how they got there.

Idiots seeking adventure and treasure usually ran screaming and telling tales of a huge dragon and the spectre of Death himself.

Harry had kept an eye on the Perverell family ever since they had arrived in the time period. He had watched them grow and attend Hogwarts with other children. Now they were adults, young men really, they had travelled to London on business and where now returning to Godric's Hollow. They would have to either pass through Death's Territory or take a long and circuitous route and the older brother was against the longer route. He insisted that they were three powerful wizards capable of handling wraiths and dragons.

The various dangers in the area were all conjurations by Harry and Clark but tied to them. They would only exist so long as they were in this universe. This was at Clark's suggestion so that they wouldn't have to worry about clean up after they returned to Clark's home universe.

The three brothers managed to defeat every obstacle that the Master and Apprentice had erected before they arrived at the edge of the territory near the fledgling town of Merthyr Tydfil. It was here that Death appeared to them.

"Tell me young mortals, should I congratulate you for defeating or escaping the protections on my land or should I punish you for trespassing?" Death demanded as he floated before them, his features hidden behind a hooded tattered black cloak.

"My Lord, please have mercy!" The oldest brother pleaded. "Our father is deathly ill and the only way to reach him before he passes is to travel the route we took."

"Ah, Antioch your father is indeed nearing his time. Although his bed may seem harsh as his twilight comes to an end, he will soon be granted leave for the next great adventure." Death mused with a gravelly voice. "Perhaps I shall be lenient. You meant no ill will and your father will have some joy in seeing his sons before he passes on."

"Thank you My Lord." Antioch said with a deep bow.

Death raised a skeletal hand. "But you have succeeded where all others have failed. Traversing my lands and surviving. I believe a reward is in order." There was a hint of a sneer in the voice.

But only the youngest brother, Ignotus, heard it.

"We would be honoured, My Lord." Cadmus, the middle brother spoke up.

"But what do I know of Mortal desires other than that of avoiding _me_!?" Death cackled, his laugh was grating and terrifying. "Tell me children, what should I give you each as a gift?"

Ignotus grimaced at the greedy looks on his brother's faces.

"My Lord, if it pleases you, I would desire a wand beyond all others. One that can never be defeated." Antioch said reverently.

"A warrior, are you?" Death mused. "Or are you merely a man who believes strength and power are the only way to live?" He then waved his fleshless hand dismissively. "No matter. You have made your request and I will grant it." He held his hand palm up and in it appeared a wand. "Elder wood and Thestral Hair, a fitting combination for one who has beaten even Death."

The wand floated smoothly over to Antioch who began admiring and caressing the wand in a manner that was far too inappropriate. The look in the man's eyes spoke of greed and ideas that would bring him all he wanted.

"What of you, Cadmus? What gift can Death give to you?"

Cadmus actually looked sad and desperate, but there was no mistaking the fact that he knew what he wanted. "My fiancé, she died. Could you give her back to me?"

Death clucked his non-existent tongue. "I am merely the gatekeeper between this realm and the next. I have no power over souls once they leave this realm. But perhaps…" Death trailed off as he held out his hand and finally crafted gem appeared there. "When turned over three times, the spirit of the one you hold in your mind will be called forth and you may speak with them."

Again the gift floated to the brother, Cadmus held the stone reverently but there were tears in his eyes. "Thank you My Lord."

Death nodded and turned to the youngest brother. "Ignotus, the youngest and perhaps… the most noble of the Perverell Line."

Ignotus' glance darted to his brothers, fearful of the jealous glares, but they were so enraptured by their gifts that they paid him no heed.

"What can I gift you with child?"

Ignotus bowed low. "My Lord, no gift is necessary, we were trespassing and are not deserving of gifts for committing such a crime."

"Perhaps." Death allowed. "But you have shown impressive skill. Show me your wisdom Ignotus as you have shown me your nobleness. What gift do you desire?"

Ignotus' shoulders sagged in resignation. "My Lord, I wish only to live out my days until my mortal life has ended."

"You wish only for what you are entitled to." Death nodded. "Very well." Death reached down and ripped part of his cloak off. It expanded and became a finely embroidered hooded cloak. "This cloak will hide you from all including Death. We will see if you have the honour and integrity to greet me properly when your time has come."

Ignotus graciously accepted the cloak.

"Farewell young mortals. Again I congratulate you on your accomplishment… but do not think to tempt fate twice." Death warned as he faded out of sight.

* * *

As the three brothers walked away Clark dropped his invisibility standing next to Harry who pulled back his hood and cancelled the illusion.

"'Young mortals'?" Clark asked with a teasing smirk.

"I have to _sound_ large and powerful." Harry rolled his eyes.

"You should have just quoted Shakespeare. Brunhilde and Loki say you have a tendency to rip off and mangle classical works when you make a speech."

"Traitors." Harry muttered. "You can go and tail Antioch for that. He's supposed to be offed tonight."

"What? Why?"

"I need to personally collect their souls, remember?"

"I thought we were going home now? I'm over sixty years old now! It was bad enough when I was over a decade older than Ku, now I'm going to be-"

"Clark!" Harry snapped lightly. "Antioch and Cadmus will soon be dead. We can then travel in time to deal with Ignotus. Just a few more years is all it will take."

Clark growled unhappily. "When we get home _you_ can explain to my wives why I am over a century older."

* * *

Kyla and Lana had decided to travel to the medical and nursing schools in America first, they wanted to leave the rest of the world until Chloe was old enough to appreciate it and remember it, they also planned to take Kusano with them so that Chloe had a friend their own age.

The Amaterasu had successfully landed with The Vision impersonating Clark. They had arrived with a new friend, the Green Lantern Kilowog who was sent by the Guardians as their guide and also to consult on the Mars issue.

The countries not invited to participate by Amara, mainly western counties, had tried to form their own coalition, but they fell to in-fighting and could agree on nothing. They couldn't even agree where to hold the meetings.

Each country was still working on their own plans and this put pressure on the Alliance and the invited countries to act first in case the West managed to doom the planet.

Lorna and Cassandra where no longer holding their school in the castle. They had taken over the main magical academy in the Hidden City. At first they met a lot of hostility as they were the invaders. The North Korean personnel who were overseeing the various aspects of government had to be held back by some of the Japanese advisors when the North Koreans became enraged at the lack of respect shown to their ruler's family.

It didn't help that the rulers were able to display a control of magic they had never dreamed of.

"_Heads up everyone! America just launched a missile at Mars."_

The family was spread across the globe at the moment; it was Kyla who had just sent the message.

"_Are you sure it was headed for Mars?"_ Scott asked quickly.

"_As soon as it launched I phased into the complex and from what I saw it's going for Mars."_

"_Where the hell are you? What sort of nursing-"_

"_We were visiting the Hoover Damn."_ Lana interrupted Xander's rant.

"_Everybody report back to the castle immediately!"_ Emma ordered.

* * *

"The bad news is that the US Government has unilaterally launched an attack on Mars with three high yield nuclear rockets." Scott announced to the large group seated in the Great Hall. Attending this meeting were the Emperor and Prime Minister of Japan as well as the usual castle residents.

"The good news is that we have a month before they hit the planet."

"Do these missiles still have their _original_ payload?" Neville asked.

"Unfortunately they do." Emma scowled. "These missiles have been developed over the past year or two, likely in response to the news of Superman and other aliens. We didn't catch them when we disarmed the world's nuclear arsenal."

"Forgive me, what do you mean, 'disarmed the world's nuclear arsenal'?" The Japanese PM asked.

Seeing Dani about to relish the explanation and possibly unnerve or insult someone, Emma jumped in. "Using covert techniques we scoured the world and governments for the location of all nuclear arsenals. We then proceeded to replace the nuclear material with… a fairly innocuous substance.

Emma glared at Neville as the Phoenix waved a hand and everybody had a bowl of blue jelly in front of them. "There are a lot more safety protocols in place but the nuclear missiles are pretty useless as anything other than a scare tactic." Neville explained as Dani and the others dug in.

"Including Japan's?"

"Yes, the last thing we need is a rogue agent or leader suddenly giving us a nuclear winter." Scott nodded.

"These new missiles are enhanced with Kryptonite." Laura moved the conversation back on course. "They are very fast and will reach Mars within the month."

"The question is what shall we do now?" Amara posited. "Do we intercept the missiles, do we inform the public or do we sit back and leave it in the hands of the American government?"

"If we act then the US will just keep arguing about us acting on our own without input from the rest of the world- and yes, I am aware that that would be completely hypocritical but lets face it… that's what they are." Jean sighed.

"If we don't act then we get to rub this in their faces when it all goes to pot." Dani grinned.

"But we also risk putting the entire world in danger." Phoebe warned.

"If we act now we can stop this before anyone dies." Mindee continued.

"If we wait then there will be an army of aliens on planet Earth." Celeste finished.

"If we act now then yes, we will save some lives this year." Lorna argued. "But eventually the planet is going to want to make contact and if Harry is right then we will have a war anyway. Better to let this play out now and let the US Government learn their lesson."

"I cannot say I have much sympathy for the American Government, but I don't believe any of us wishes to let the civilians suffer for mistakes that were not theirs." The Emperor said sadly. "Not twenty miles from here is a town where you have cultivated friendships, there has to be a better way."

"Easy. I could go up there and wipe out every single life form on the planet."

Everyone turned to see Clark and Harry standing at the entrance to the Great Hall.

Females instantly swamped both men.

Kyla and the Sekirei were surprised at how affectionate Clark was. He always gave them hugs and kisses but usually in private.

"Listen to me, I love you all and I have missed you so much." Clark said as he picked up Kusano who buried her head in his neck.

"Clark? What happened?" Yume asked with concern.

"We've been gone for the better part of a century." Clark said wearily.

"A CENTURY!"

This scream came from both Clark and Harry's wives.

"If they do that again I'm throwing silencing charms at them." Xander grimaced.

Logan grunted in agreement, his girls had been part of the scream, what with Harry being their adopted father.

"We are going to have a long talk Mister." Dani glared at Harry along with most of the women.

"Do it later please." Neville called out. "Our current impending crisis needs addressing first."

Harry was manhandled to the table along with Clark. Harry's girl's took their seats but Clark found Ku on his lap, on his right was Kyla, on his left was Aphrodite and arrayed behind him were his Sekirei.

"Where's Chloe?" Clark asked suddenly.

"Say 'Hi' Chloe." Lana bent down to the little girl on her lap who appeared to be two years old.

"Hi!" She grinned toothily.

"Well that explains why Gabe is hovering around without a body." Harry muttered as he waved a hand. "Anyway, as I was saying, I could handle this on my own. We could call in the Lanterns and deal with it. We could have the Amaterasu blow the missiles up right now.

"But then humanity would never learn."

"And the people who will die?" Clark asked.

"Get to go to the other side where the US Government and other idiots are not in control." Xander shrugged.

"Harry, get Gabe's body off the table." Lorna snapped.

Sitting in the middle of the table where a pair of feet that were steadily growing the rest of Gabriel Sullivan.

"And give the man some clothes." Amara glared.

Harry just grumbled as he waved a hand causing the feet to vanish.

The Emperor and Prime Minister shook themselves as they realised they had been staring.

"If we are to let things play out then surely all we can do now is prepare our countries for war." The Prime Minister frowned. "But we do not have a nuclear arsenal anymore."

"You wouldn't want one." Clark said with a dismissive wave. "The only thing you achieve with a nuclear weapon is destroying the Earth. We need to think outside the box. What would others do, like the Green Lanterns? They don't use explosives, they just use light constructs."

"We can not re-design decades of modern warfare in less than a month!" The Prime Minister objected.

"Don't worry, we'll help." Dani said far too happily.

* * *

**A/N:**

Just a reminder that there are only three chapters left before I have finished year three. I think I am coming to the end of year four, I currently have 67,244 words written.

For those of you who are still harping on about 'America Bashing'... you are going to hate most of Year Four... although I have finally gotten to the point where some decent people make an appearance in government and they should be sorted by the beginning of year five.

I do feel the need to point out a few things about this 'America Bashing':

**1. **I bash all countries equally... North Korea was conquered because they were cruel to their citizens, Themiscyra had their Queen banished because they tried to kill Harry and Clark and Japan's Emperor nearly got smited before Amaterasu put him in his place.

**2. ** THESE ARE FICTIONAL GOVERNMENTS! Seriously, if you have an issue with the way I am writing about America then why are you reading a fan fiction based on DC Comics or even Marvel Comics? Have you not read how Marvel's US government treated Mutants and Super Humans? How about Smallville when Checkmate shut down the original heroes led by Hawkman? Maybe you haven't noticed but everyone from The Simpsons to Homeland likes to say bad things about the US Government... evil governments make stories more interesting as they give the heroes a tougher enemy to fight. It's why Rowling wrote the Ministry of Magic as more of a Ministry of Morons.

**3. **Have you been watching the news lately? The American Government is in shutdown because of... well... blackmail and extortion. The British Government are being accused of 'under-spending' on military budgets (which is apparently a bad thing... who knew?) And you think I'm 'bashing' a government in a fictional story about a fictional government in a fictional universe of which you are _NOT_ a citizen? Do yourself a favour and find a new story to read... it'll only get worse for the next year of this story.

**4.** You all seem to have missed the point. My fictional US Government might be run by a bunch of morons... but Americans are the ones saving the world... Bruce Wayne - American. Clark Kent - American citizen. Barry Allen - American. Hal Jordan - American. The X-Men - American (Except Wolverine who is Canadian and Amara who is... roman? Not sure what Laura is.) And let us not forget the very first hero I used for this story and who made Harry as Death possible... Xander Harris - American.


	51. Chapter 51

As such the other castle residents ran for the hills.

Gabriel, who's stubborn refusal to allow death to part him from his daughter, was once again in a physical body and was very much enjoying spending time with his two-year-old daughter… again.

Scott, Jean and Emma had dived through the dimensional door back to their home world to spend a day or so in the Savage Lands.

Tess and Helen had work to do but treated themselves by staying at the MBI resort at night.

Lana decided to wander the world, she headed to France where she wanted to see the sights, climb the Eiffel Tower, visit the Louvre and generally enjoy the atmosphere of one of the world's oldest and most romantic cities.

Lana Lang was a beautiful young woman and she knew it. Not that she was egotistical but because her goddess had said so and when the Goddess of Love and Beauty said you were beautiful… you would be a fool not to believe it.

She was used to turning heads as she walked down streets, be it Smallville, Metropolis, Tokyo or even Themiscyra, what was a first for her was causing someone to crash their moped on the streets of Paris.

It was definitely a man, but fortunately a man smart enough to be wearing a helmet. Lana was frustrated as the other humans on the street just watched and took pictures with their camera phones.

Lana pulled hers out and dialled 911… then she hung up dialled 112, the French emergency services number.

By the time she reached the rider he was taking off his helmet.

"Don't move! Wait for the ambulance." Lana instructed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine… nothing damaged." The man said in an American accent. He managed to look blearily at Lana, then recognised her as the catalyst for his accident. "Nothing but my pride." He muttered.

"Stay put or I'll make you stay put." Lana hissed as she covered the mouthpiece before returning to reporting the accident.

Then man raised his hands slightly in surrender. "Hey, who am I to argue with Florence Nightingale?" He said with a hint of humour.

Lana frowned at that; it was a little too close to why she was in France. With all the things happening in Smallville and to her friends she couldn't help but be a little paranoid.

"The ambulance should be here in ten minutes." Lana reported as she put away her phone and pulled out a conjured torch. "Follow the light."

"You really are a nurse?" The man asked.

"I have first aid training and I am looking to be a nurse." Lana said as she continued her examination. "Do you know your name?"

"Teague, Jason Teague. Seriously? I happened to fall off my bike in front of the only American medic in the city?"

"There are a lot of foreign nurses in the country Mr. Teague, France has a good health care system for both patients and staff. Now do you know the date?"

"I. Am. Fine." Jason reiterated. "And telling you the date won't help because…" He nodded at the space behind her.

Lana turned and sighed in frustration as she saw a digital clock and calendar displayed in a nearby shop. "Fine, but stop moving. Just wait for the ambulance."

* * *

In Japan the Emperor stood with the Prime Minister to tell the world of what the American's had done and how they single handedly put the planet in great danger. The Amaterasu was launched with the backup crew to monitor the missiles and transmit a video feed of the missiles that would be shown to the world on the Internet and a special global channel that they created for this.

Needless to say the world was split into various groups:

Those who thought the aliens where peaceful and would forgive them.

Those that thought the aliens would destroy them for their actions.

Those that thought the aliens needed wiping out before they wiped them out.

Those that thought the aliens had no right to be in _their_ solar system.

Those that thought they should offer up the most young and beautiful for mating with the aliens.

That last group was fairly small but most of Hollywood went on high alert regardless. Beauty pageants were cancelled and proud fathers pulled their sons and daughters from school until the lunatics were captured.

Whilst this was going on the majority of the castle residents were oblivious to anything but the rhythmic pounding and explosive pleasures that two of the residents had missed out on over the last century of their lives.

"Grandfather! Uncle!" Kusano squealed as she ran out of the Kent house and into Xander's arms.

"How's my Little Field?" Xander grinned as he swept her up.

"I made food for the cows. Ryan says the cows said the grass was extra juicy!" She declared, clearly pleased with her work.

"A very good job then." Neville smiled. "Where are Ma and Pa Kent?"

Xander and Harry had taken to referring to the Martha and Jonathan as 'Ma' and 'Pa' as they were essentially Kusano's in-laws.

"Pa is dealing with the icky horse stuff." She wrinkled her cute little nose. "Ma is making dinner." She suddenly had a very guilty look as she struggled out of Xander's arms. "I'm helping! I'm helping!" She squealed as she ran back inside.

"I think she's helping." Xander mused.

Neville ignore him as he walked up to the door and knocked.

"Neville, why do you even bother knocking? You're practically family these days!" Martha admonished with a smile.

"Manners, Martha. Something that I cherish dearly… ever since I met Xander."

"Hey!"

"I take it you two are escaping the love fest at the castle?" Martha laughed.

"No amount of silencing and privacy charms will help if you _know_ what is going on." Xander grimaced.

Neville leaned over conspiratorially to Martha. "He's just jealous because he doesn't have a girlfriend ye-eep!"

Neville was yanked back by a glaring Xander. "I don't see you strutting around with a girl on either arm."

"I have patience and no pressing need." Neville said as he straightened his shirt.

"Everybody needs somebody to love." Kusano declared with a stern look.

Neville and Xander stared at the little girl before looking questioningly to Martha.

"She is surrounded by Amazons and other Sekirei… not to mention the goddess of love." Martha shrugged.

Xander wiped his brow and leant on Neville's shoulder. "Thank god! I thought you had her quoting songs already!"

"When is Clark coming out to play?" Kusano pouted.

"If he isn't here tomorrow I swear to you that I will personally send Uncle Neville into get him." Xander vowed.

"And I swear that I will drag Grandfather with me." Neville added.

"I'm hoping that Clark will spend some time with us here. It was barely three years ago that he was fourteen, but now… he's over a century in age." Martha said sadly. "I feel like I have missed so much."

"Xander and I don't have much experience with time travel." Neville admitted. "But we can both tell you that one hundred years is a just a week or two when compared to the thousands of years you will have as a family."

"And a fairly big family it is!" Xander grinned at little Ku.

"Did all of you have… harems back home?" Martha asked.

"First of all, they aren't harems." Neville corrected. "They are families with multiple partners. I personally have never had more than one at a time. Xander and Harry both had one at first but a second was added a few years later for both."

"Yeah, Harry and Neville usually had one at a time over their excessively long lives until Harry went to their last world. He somehow managed to con several hot girls into being his soul mates."

"Con? Xander?" Martha asked with glib eye.

"Weeell… "

"I'll just write that down for Miya to see." Martha assured him.

"No! Not that!"

* * *

"See, I told you I was fine."

Lana sighed in frustration as she helped Jason hobble out of the hospital. "There is a huge difference between being 'fine' and not wanting to pay hospital bills."

"Well when you're the one about to be groped by cold hands we can talk about it."

"Several of my friends are doctors, whenever I get sick or injured they _all_ get in on the diagnosis."

"I thought you were just out of high school, why are you hanging around doctors?" Jason asked.

"I'm just going into my senior year of high school. The school doctor sponsored the blood drives I ran and his friends at the local medical centre let me shadow them whilst I volunteered."

"Oh my god! You're a brainiac!" Jason said accusingly.

Lana glared at him. "All of my friends are smart, you got a problem with that?"

Jason drew back slightly at the hostile look. "Not anymore I don't."

"Lets just find a cab so you can get off that knee."

"Wait- I don't even know your name."

"We should probably keep it that way."

"Come on, the least you can do is let me buy you a drink, dinner would be better after helping me today." Jason wheedled.

"I'm underage for drinking." Lana said as she held out a hand for a cab.

"Great! Dinner it is."

Lana just glared harder.

* * *

The world managed to continue turning for the most part. Most TV shops had at least one set showing the live images of the American missiles headed for Mars. The United Nations was in uproar; America had pissed off everyone from Russia to their own people. Nations were demanded sanctions on the United States and half of the American people were demanding the resignation of the President and his government.

The other half were stocking up on guns.

For the most part it was just another scandal for the average citizen and they wouldn't care until it affected them directly.

The same was true for the residents of Smallville.

"What do you mean you have a date?" Kyla demanded.

"It's not a date! Its just dinner." Lana argued. "He tricked me into it."

Kyla obviously didn't buy that. "You're an Amazon and one of the smartest students in school… you don't get tricked like that."

"It doesn't matter, I'm just going to have the meal say thanks and then never see him again." Lana sighed.

"You aren't going without me." Kyla scowled.

"I don't need a babysitter!"

"Not babysitter… back up!"

"I'm an Amazon, I think I can handle a single mortal human."

Kyla looked around worriedly. "You should feel very lucky that Harry and Brunhilde aren't here. They would have you training for days for saying something like that! What if he has powers, what if he is a plant?"

"Fine, just try not to embarrass me too much!"

* * *

Clark was trying to enjoy himself. He was trying to enjoy watching Kusano as she frolicked in the foliage and chased after animals.

This would have been a lot easier if they weren't in the Louisiana swamps where alligators where the largest and most easily spottable of the dangerous creatures. He was hoping that gods couldn't have heart attacks as he zapped another leech that was heading for his little Sekirei's legs.

"Didn't Harry teach you healing spells?" Ryan asked.

"Healing spells don't stop the initial pain and I would rather not have to deal with an upset Kusano." Clark grumbled.

Ryan waved a hand at Kusano, not that the little girl noticed. "A light numbing charm, if she gets bitten she'll never know."

"Thanks Ryan." Clark breathed in relief as he put an arm around the younger boy. "How is school going?"

"Harder. It was fun when it was just the few of us, but the voices in my head are stronger when I'm at the Academy in the Hidden City. I'm glad it's not a boarding school like Harry and Neville went to."

"So you won't be going to College?"

"I don't know." Ryan admitted. "I can always commute."

They were interrupted by Pamela Isley appearing in front of them. "Clark, Lady Gaia sent me, you are approaching the territory of the Swamp Thing. She recommends that you attempt an introduction for the May Queen."

Pamela had undergone weeks of intense therapy with Emma where they tore down the damage caused by the chemicals on her mind and the abuse and assault she suffered from her professor. She was once again the timid yet brilliant young scientist. She was happy to spend her time waiting on Kusano, the future May Queen, she had been given strict instructions that Kusano was to treated as a little girl, and if she misbehaved she was punished.

"I'd forgotten he was in these parts." Clark sighed.

"Is the Swamp Thing the reason Ku wanted to come here?" Ryan asked.

"I have been telling her stories of Alec and how he became what he is." Pamela admitted.

"That would explain why she keeps poking the floor of the swamp with her stick." Clark chuckled. "Where is he, how can we meet him?"

"He is currently playing with Kusano." Pamela smiled softly. "She knows where he is and whenever she pokes him with the stick he tugs on it."

Clark watched his little Sekirei fondly before he turned to Ryan. "Why don't you handle this one?"

"Me?" Ryan's eyes were wide in shock.

"Everybody has to start somewhere. You're about the same age as I was when I met Harry. We already know that Alec Holland is a good guy. He hopefully remembers Pamela so give it a shot." Clark gave him a little push.

Ryan wasn't sure this was a good idea. He was just a kid and as much as he knew the adults at the castle respected him he knew other adults weren't quite as nice. But if Clark thought he could do he would do his very best.

"Ku? Do you know your friends name?" Ryan asked as he nodded to the marshy waters.

"He has a name?" She asked curiously.

"His name is Mr. Alec Holland. Gaia said he might be a good friend for you, like Pamela. Mr. Holland, would you like to say hello to Ku and my friends?" He asked the water.

"Wait, don't go!" Ku cried as she took a step forward, she stumbled and nearly fell into the water except a massive green hand rose out of the murky depths and caught her.

"Nobody is going to hurt you sir. My brother, Clark," he pointed at the towering young man behind him, "He has lots of friends who might be able to help you. Pamela was an old friend of yours and she can talk to plants like you and Ku."

"Don't you want to be my friend?" Ku pouted.

Clark knew that Alec didn't stand a chance now that Kusano had brought out the big guns.

Sure enough the hand picked up Kusano as it grew into a veritable mounting of a man/swamp.

"I don't have any friends." The being said with a sad smile.

"We'll be your friends, won't we Ryan?" The little girl declared.

"We have lots of friends who would also want to be your friend." Ryan nodded.

"My friends tend to be in danger around me."

Ryan scoffed. "Nothing new for us. I was captured and experimented on. Kusano was chased by lots of people who wanted to use her. All our friends have survived lots and they always look out for each other."

"Yeah, friends look out for each other!" Kusano agreed.

"Then you have very good friends." Alec nodded.

"Alec, these people might be able to help you regain something of a normal life." Pamela said softly.

"At the very least we can introduce you to people who don't care what you look like." Clark added.

"I look like a mound of dirt." Alec said glibly.

Clark waved a hand at Alec causing the man to shrink and revert to his normal human self.

"H-how did you do that?" He asked in amazement.

"Magic. Its temporary at best, but I know someone who can probably do a much better job." Clark explained.

"This feels wrong." Alec frowned. "I… I can't feel the Green."

Clark waved his hand again and Alec once more took the form of the Swamp Thing. "Like I said, I know someone who can do it right."

"I don't think I can give up my connection to the Green." Alec said as he put Ku down.

"Nobody wants you to. You are holding the hand of the future May Queen, appointed by Gaia herself. Pamela is her hand maiden and Gaia has indicated you would make an excellent Knight for the Queen."

"Where do you and Ryan fit into all of this?"

"Ryan is my brother-in-law and Clark is my husband!" Kusano said proudly.

Clark just buried his head in his hands as Pamela and Ryan laughed.

Unfortunately Alec didn't see the humour. "You disgusting pervert!" He roared as he caused vines to rise out of the swamp and restrain Clark.

"Wait!" Ryan said jumping in front of Alec. "Ku doesn't really understand, she's only four!"

"I'm five!" Ku objected.

"You really don't have any experience with children, do you Alec?" Pamela laughed. "Little girls often indulge in fantasies of marrying shining knights. It's completely innocent."

"It's not a fantasy! Kyla said I am his wife too! Aphrodite too!" Ku stomped her little foot making a fairly big splash in the water.

Clark sighed as he casually broke the vines holding him astonishing the Swamp Thing. "You know we won't be married officially until you are a lot older, Ku. You need to remember to be careful not to go blurting it out."

"What the hell is going on?" Alec growled.

"Soul bonds, time travel, magic, aliens and different cultures." Clark shrugged. "If you want to know more then grab Ku and Ryan and we'll find someone who has the patience to answer all your questions… or someone who deserves the headache at least."

Harry was not happy with Clark that afternoon.

* * *

Jason Teague led Lana to a fairly standard restaurant. It wasn't five star cuisine or anything but it had a decent atmosphere.

"Why, of all the places in Paris, would you bring me to a Chinese Restaurant?" Lana asked as they were seated.

Jason gave her a smug smile. "Always keep them guessing."

"I have some friends you would get on so well with." She muttered. "So, Jason, why are you in Paris?"

"Just travelling. My career path took a nose dive and now I need to re-evaluate what I want to do so long as it isn't what my Dad wants me to do."

"He doesn't want you to follow in the family tradition?" She asked in confusion. "Jason?" He seemed a bit distracted.

"Huh? Oh, no he does. _I _really don't want to. The last thing I want to be is a lawyer." He said with an exaggerated expression of disgust.

"Some of my best friends are lawyers." She said with narrowed eyes.

Jason was lost for words. For a moment. "You have a _lot_ of 'best friends'."

"They are more like family, without the blood."

The waitress appeared and Jason stumbled over trying to order until Lana cast a special translation charm on herself that actually let her speak the language instead of being understood.

"You speak Chinese?" Jason asked, astounded.

"A little."

"You sounded pretty fluent just now!"

"I eat at a lot of restaurants." She said dismissively.

Jason opened his mouth to say something but then seemed to change his mind. "I don't mean to be rude or offensive, but are you gay or bi?"

Jason suddenly feared for his life and dignity as Lana's eyes narrowed to a slit.

He quickly tried to explain. "There's a girl glaring at me over there and I've only seen looks like that from jealous girlfriends."

Lana turned to where he had indicated and saw Kyla glaring at them. Lana wanted to hex her friend; the only thing stopping her was using magic in front of those not in the know. So she did the next best thing.

"I don't think it's you she's glaring at." Lana frowned in thought. "I think she wants you and is jealous of me."

"Really?" Jason asked, he hadn't even thought of that.

"You could always ask her. Go ahead, I honestly don't mind." She said sincerely.

Jason looked at her warily. "This is a test of some kind isn't it?"

"This is just dinner, if she is bothering you that much then ask her to stop." Lana said appearing unconcerned.

Jason had enough experience with girls to stay put. Then he thought he saw salvation. Unfortunately Lana's back was to the door so when she saw Jason's relief and turned to look she couldn't help the groan.

"Are they your siblings?" Jason asked.

"What? No!"

Jason snorted a laugh. "With that reaction, one of them has to be your ex."

Jason flinched as Lana growled at him before she turned in her chair and hissed at the objects of their discussion. "You two! Here! Now!"

"I really hope that guy isn't your ex." Jason muttered as he finally got a good look at the tall, well-muscled man.

Unfortunately he had been heard.

"Hi, I'm Kyla and this is Clark, her ex and my current." Kyla grinned.

Clark looked horrified. "_This_ is why you wanted to eat here?" He asked his girlfriend before turning to Lana. "Lana, I honestly didn't know. We were supposed to be having a private dinner after my… trip."

"Don't worry, I knew she was going to be here I just thought she was going to be - discreet about it." She glared at her sister.

"Be glad it's me. Xander could be the one giving the shovel speech." Kyla shrugged.

"Do you… want to join us?" Jason asked very hesitantly.

"No!"

"Yes!"

Clark and Lana glared at Kyla who ignored them and took a seat in one of the extra chairs.

"So… Clark, what do you do?" Jason awkwardly tried to start a conversation.

Clark laughed, he couldn't help but remember the first time he tried to start a conversation with Bruce Wayne. "If you don't know then I won't say. It will really put a crimp on the conversation."

Jason looked confused but neither of the girls looked inclined to fill him in. "Well, how about you Kyla?"

"About to start my _senior_ year of _high school_ with Lana." She said with a pointed glare.

"And I'm thinking of starting my freshman year of college." He said nervously before taking a long gulp of his drink.

"Where are you planning on attending?" Clark asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm not even sure what I want to study."

"You said your plans fell apart." Lana said, remembering their previous conversation. "What were you planning on doing?"

"Football." Jason said with a wistful sigh. "I tore my rotator cuff and that was the end of that."

"You set a pass record though." Kyla smirked as Jason was shocked by her knowledge. "My best friend is going on a date with a strange guy… you didn't think I wouldn't run a background check?"

"You Googled me?!"

"Pfft, Google is nothing compared to what I can do. My other best friends work the school newspaper_ and_ they interned at the Daily Planet."

"I can't believe you!" Lana hissed.

"You're Jason Teague?" Clark asked happily surprised.

"You've heard of me?"

"I was thinking of a career in football myself for a while. I knew of your record, of course now I know you mostly because of your family." Clark admitted. "Genevieve and Edward Teague."

"Clark!" Lana exclaimed. She couldn't believe how badly this dinner was going. It was meant to be a simple meal and then never seeing each other again.

"It's not my fault, they run in the same circles and Bruce and Luthor." Clark explained. He turned back to Jason. "I'm Clark Kent, owner of the Japanese company MBI, Bruce Wayne is a good friend of ours as is Potter and his family."

Jason suddenly felt very parched. "I think I need another drink." He said hoarsely.

Kyla was not impressed. "Really? You meet a man of power and crumble- ow!"

Lana glared at her with darting eyes as Kyla rubbed her shin.

"Actually… I was worried that my meeting Lana was a set up." Jason was looking a bit pale.

"How? Nobody knew I was in the country." Lana argued.

"That would a hell of coincidence for my mother to suggest taking some time to explore in Paris and to then fall into the lap of three of her biggest social rivals."

"But I didn't have a plan when I came here, I just… followed my feet!"

"Or maybe it is just a huge coincidence." Clark interrupted the panic.

Kyla and Lana looked at him in disbelief.

Clark rolled his eyes. "I said 'maybe'."

"So what do we do?" Lana asked.

"Jason, do you have any interest what so ever in myself or my influential friends?" Clark asked.

"Not unless you're looking for game of football."

"Do you intend to use your relationship with Lana to spy on us or do anything that a regular person might find… offensive?"

"We don't have a relationship!" Lana said quickly.

"Jason?"

Jason's face was hard. "I don't like anyone dictating my life, I didn't let my Dad do it and there is no way in hell my Mom gets to."

"Lana, I'll ask someone to put some extra security on you, make sure you check in everyday or someone will be out to find you. For now, Kyla and I will leave you to your meal." Clark said as he stood up and indicated for Kyla to do the same.

"What? Clark- wait a moment." Lana said as she jumped out of her seat. She led Clark a few feet away and surreptitiously cast a privacy charm. "Are you sure you're ok with this? I mean me, dating other men."

"Lana, it's been more than a year for you since you broke up with me because you didn't think you could share, but for me it's been about a century. Sitting at that table is a man who thinks you are amazing and he's only known you for a day. He isn't looking to share, maybe you should take a chance and see what the future holds."

"What if-"

"Lana! We could stand here and trade scenarios and possibilities all night, if there is one thing I have learnt from Harry its that we need to find happiness wherever possible, now go."

Clark waved Kyla over and walked out leaving a very cautious Lana to return to a similarly cautious Jason.

* * *

**A/N: Another Q & A**

So a few people are asking the same questions and that usually means I should give a few answers... here they are:

**1.** Aphrodite's husbands.

I don't know if Aphrodite is married in DC Comics but in this version she isn't. She hasn't slept with Ares or Hephestus and doesn't have any children. That doesn't mean she won't have problems with them. My understanding of the Aphrodite/Ares relationship in mythology is that it was an adulterous one and that wouldn't fit in with Aphrodite being a goddess of Love and also an Avatar of Love.

She also wouldn't marry someone out of obligation as she was to Hephestus.

**2. **YOU SKIPPED CRISIS! YOU BASTARD!

I know... I know... I have two reasons why Crisis was skipped (That's the one where Adam Knight tries to kill Lana and Lana's emergency phone call gets sent back in time so Clark saves her).

First... Adam Knight isn't in this story. Lana never broke her leg and never met him. That particular project never took place... I can't remember why I did that, Garret and the bomb deal in the hospital was just his brother dying and so on.

Second... I copped out? I'm a big ol' yella' belly chicken? Nah, I could have written it and it wouldn't have been hard to do. There is an easy way for Harry to have used Time Turners to change things without causing a paradox in Hogwarts. First he uses his invisibility cloak. Second, when he gets into trouble he immediately puts in his mind a plan to go back in time and intervene in some benign and unseen way.. like switching peoples wands with fake ones. Then it will happen... because he had the plan and he eventually puts it into action.

Confused? Good. So am I.

We will continue whilst I try and pour my brains back in through my ear... shouldn't take long... there isn't much of it.

**3.**What about Dr. Fate? Wouldn't he have been involved?

Sure, in the comics. But the basis for most of the characters that actually appear in the TV series will be their TV series histories, in other words... Dr. Fate is currently a broken man who suffers from hearing voices.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, they will become apparent as the story progresses. As has already been hinted, Oliver Queen(Green Arrow) will use his Smallville history as it relates to Tess. But someone like Bart Allen (Impulse) won't appear... because he hasn't been born yet or isn't old enough because we have a young Barry Allen and he and Iris are still dancing around each other at this point.

Some characters will have completely messed up histories as I combine them or create newish ones. Here's a hint, I'm coming to the end of writing year four... guess who's history I about to screw with!

**4. **Pleeeeeaaaaassee write another crossover with *INSERT SHOW HERE*

After this story I have one more instalment of this series... most of you can probably figure out what it will be. After that I have a bunch of other stories I am already working on... such as Harry Five-0 which spans the entire CBS world of H50, NCIS and includes Bones. It just focuses on H50. (For those who hate me bashing America, you'll love that one as Americans are the heroes.)

There is also a Harry gets sent back to his old body... complete insanity and nothing else. It should be taken about as seriously Joe Biden when his auto-cue fails.

What else... oh! Harry Potter in the Marvel Movie Verse. I had plenty of ideas for that.

I also have a fair bit of one which is BtVS/Transformers/NCIS. Fairly whacky... but what did you expect from me?

I haven't written anything yet but I was planning on going back and writing some more or M-Day. Kind of like a continuing adventures. Just because we left after Dark Reign doesn't mean there wasn't adventures with Avengers vs X-Men, Fear Itself, and the rest.

**5.** But I want *INSERT SHOW HERE* crossover!

Then here is what you can do... and I am not being snide. This is a genuine offer!

a. Write one yourself.

b. Ask someone else to write one.

You can do the following:

a. Use all the characters I have developed.

b. Make it a full on sequel to these stories. (Just warn people if it will be continuing on from M-Day and ignoring this story)

b. Use the relationships I have developed.

**C. COMPLETELY RE-WRITE YOUR OWN VERSION OF MY STORIES!** Think things could have gone differently? Have a go at it. I thought Rowling, Marvel and DC could have done it differently, so why couldn't I have?

Bottom line: I have no problem with people using my ideas and running with them.

There is only one rule: **DO NOT CLAIM YOU CAME UP WITH THE IDEAS YOURSELF.**

You don't have to give me a credit... you don't even have to allude to my work or write a disclaimer... just don't say you came up with the idea of Aspects, Avatars, and the like. I don't ever remember reading about Aspects like I have written but I can say I haven't based it off anyone else's work. The idea didn't come to me until I was on year five of Potter's Protector. It was, for me, a natural progression and explanation of Harry.

So there you have it... if you want more you can point people to the above paragraphs and beg them to get to work.

PS. Please leave me a review so I can read any work you do do. But you don't _have_ to.


	52. Chapter 52

Amara had made a rare and unusual request of Aphrodite; she asked for a tour of Olympus. Had anyone else asked she and the other gods would have left her less than a stain on the ground. Amara was far too polite and caring to ask for anything frivolous though and Aphrodite was actually quite happy to take her Amazon Queen on a tour.

Some of the other gods such as Ares needed to be reminded that Amara was no mere mortal and that if he pushed his luck with his insults and leering he would find himself facing down a fairly pissed of Aspect… and his family.

Aphrodite was showing Amara around her own personal home on Olympus when the dark haired Hermes raced in.

"Lord Zeus needs you in his throne room immediately, Aphrodite. This is one meeting you are going to really want to be there for." The Messenger of the Gods smirked before racing off.

Aphrodite frowned; she wasn't sure what to make of that last remark from Hermes. But she wasn't in the habit of disobeying Zeus so she led Amara to the palace and the Zeus' throne room.

What she found made her head snap back to Amara with a suspicious glare.

Her suspicion was clearly justified by Amara's smirk.

Standing proudly in front of the throne that held the seated Zeus and Hera was Clark Kent with his hammer at his belt and dressed in his costume. Behind him stood Harry, Jonathan, Odin, Baldur, Xander and Neville.

"Aphrodite, good. This young Norse warrior has come with an important proposal."

Aphrodite's eyes widened as she realised what was happening. Clark had clearly sought the approval of all the senior males in his life and having received it he had formed a Norse party so that he could propose marriage to her house.

Clark stepped forward and took her hand. "Aphrodite, you have been my friend and companion for two years of mortal time. But I have longed for you for decades. Please, stay with me, join me as my wife and allow me to be your husband."

Aphrodite smiled softly, it was typical Clark, short but heartfelt. "My heart's desire is to be with you forever, my love. If you can find approval in my father's eyes I will gladly marry you."

Clark offered her a smile before turning to the seated Zeus. "Lord Zeus, King of Olympus, I have come to propose marriage to your daughter Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty." He said loudly and clearly.

"I hear your proposal Lord Kal-El of Asgard, but there are traditions." Zeus rose from his throne and addressed the court. "Lord Kal-El has asked for my daughter Aphrodite's hand in marriage. Let the word go forth, in a weeks time a contest of battle will be held where those who would challenge Lord Kal-El for my daughter's hand may face him in battle."

"Lord Zeus, I would like to invoke the right to stand for my Apprentice."

Clark spun and glared at Harry. "What are you doing?"

"Apprentice, shh." Harry grinned.

"That right only applies to family!" A clearly angry voice shouted. A tall muscular man with raven black hair stormed down the steps dressed in armour. "If the foreigner wishes to fight for the hand of the daughter of Olympus he should hold his own weapon."

"Ares, I presume?" Harry continued to smile annoyingly. "I made a declaration years ago that Clark Kent, the god known as Kal-El, was my brother. Any other objections?"

"It does seem a bit… dishonourable, My Lord Death." Zeus said carefully. "There are very few who would dare strike an Aspect, let alone try to kill one."

Baldur was currently glaring at the Greek god; he thought it was a bit of an insult against his father for his late brother's actions. Odin placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"How about… my daughter then?" Harry said thoughtfully. "She is practically Kal-El's niece."

"You want to pit the power of a god against a woman?" Ares said mockingly.

Athena and Artemis had come to stand with Amara and Aphrodite and were grinning at the thought. Athena whispered in Aphrodite's ear.

"Father, I would be honoured to have a woman fight for me. My heart will always belong to Kal-El, regardless of who wins." Aphrodite spoke up.

"There are no rules forbidding it, just as there are no rules forbidding Lord Death standing for his brother. But the decision must be Lord Kal-El's."

"I need a moment to confer with my… brothers and fathers."

All six men were beaming at Clark's declaration of family.

Clark moved into a huddle with the men. "I don't doubt Sif's ability and have no problem with her fighting on my behalf but I have two questions, first, why shouldn't I fight and two, do you approve of Lady Sif fighting on my behalf?" He asked Odin.

"We have no objection to women fighting." Odin assured him.

"Ares is the Greek version of Thor." Harry said. "He would find a challenge from a woman beneath him. If there was ever a man who needed to be put in his place it is Ares, and who better to do that than a woman?"

"Alright, but not Sif. If a woman is going to fight for me partly to put a man in his place then the battle needs to be one-sided and we all know the best person to do that."

* * *

Whilst they were waiting for the end of the week when the other suitors would meet to challenge Clark's claim on Aphrodite they still had other issues to deal with.

Japan was leading the political offensive on America for their launch of missiles at Mars. Harry was making noise about releasing advanced tech and healing methods to the Alliance.

The main event of the week was the Sullivan funeral.

The explosion that killed the Sullivan family was public knowledge. Gabriel was sent to North Korea where he spent his evenings with Chloe whilst Kyla, Chiho and Musubi took Ku and Chloe around the world to enjoy the experience. They were occasionally joined by some of the others such as Yukari and Sheena.

But appearances had to be kept and that meant having a funeral for the victims. It was a small turnout on the part of Chloe's mother's side. A solitary cousin had turned up. Clark knew that Chloe had an uncle still living and at least two cousins from that side of the family. Her father was an orphan so there was no one to stand for Gabe except his friends. The Kents specifically took on that role.

After the funeral Clark was mingling with the others telling embarrassing stories that would have Chloe out for his blood when the cousin accosted him.

"You, you're Kent? Clark Kent?" She asked somewhat aggressively.

Clark nodded slowly. "Yes. Are you Lucy or Lois?"

"Lois." She said, slightly surprised that he knew about her.

"Chloe mentioned you a few times." Clark smiled.

"Yeah… well I had a video email from my cuz saying that if anything happened to her I should come and find you. That it was unlikely that she died of anything other than foul play."

Clark frowned. "She didn't say anything about Harry Potter? Or Amara Aquilla?"

"No, she just said you would be able to give me answers." She suddenly got nose to nose with him. "Well here I am farm boy, where are my answers?" She demanded.

Clark noticed they were drawing the attention of the other mourners. "Maybe we should do this another time."

Lois backed slightly as she too noticed the disapproving looks she was getting. "Fine." She hissed. "But don't think you can skip out on me." She turned and stalked off.

"You have such a way of making friends, Clark."

Clark sighed as he turned to face Homura. "I just want to know what it was that Chloe said that makes her think I had anything to do with it."

"In a few weeks you can ask her."

"Do you think she has any idea who I am? She seemed to think I was just a farmer's son. She didn't make any hints about MBI."

"I believe she is more focused on avenging her cousin. Many of the single number Sekirei were the same when Takehito was taken from us. We thought he was dead and in our grief we lost our way. Maybe if we hadn't all separated then Minaka-"

"You saw Matsu's memories Homura." Clark chastised softly. "Minaka would have had his way and only an outside source would have stopped him. He had the Jinki, he could easily control you."

"Watch it you two. It's bad enough we have to mourn Chloe and Gabe, we don't need the pair of you adding to pile of depression." Dani warned teasingly.

"Who's going to show Gabe memories of today?" Clark asked.

"He really doesn't want to see them." Amara answered as she joined her best friend. "I cannot say I blame him, we've had to attend so many funerals and we've even had funerals for ourselves. Jean was the worst before Harry taught her about being a Phoenix."

Amongst the other mourners were various Phoenixes including Hope. The first 'death' of a Phoenix was a big deal ever since Harry had been involved with their training. Hope had offered to handle Chloe's training so as not to put a strain on her friendship with Jean and the Cuckoos. She took the little girl aside everyday and began teaching her, this way she might even be able to complete her training before she remembered everything.

* * *

For Clark it had been over a century since he met Kyla Willowbrook.

For Kyla it had been nearly five years since she met Clark Kent.

For Jonathan Kent it had been about a year since he had met Kyla.

Which is why he had a distinct sense of déjà vu as he answered the door to the farmhouse at 5am.

"Can I help you?" He asked the young girl irritably.

"I'm looking for Kent." She said brusquely.

Jonathan already hated this day. "You're going to have to narrow it down a little."

"Clark Kent." She said as if it was obvious.

"He's not here."

With that he slammed the door shut and headed back to the stairs and his bed.

Except the girl started banging on the door.

"WHAT?!" Jonathan shouted. "I have two young kids trying to sleep and they don't need strangers-"

"Jonathan, let me handle this." Martha said as she came up behind him already dressed.

Jonathan stomped off, grabbing Ku on his way and guiding Ryan back to bed as they had both been woken up.

"Now what is your name?" Martha asked.

"Lane, Lois Lane. I told Kent-"

"As my husband already said, there are three Kents currently in this house and none of them are Clark, try using his name. What do you want with my oldest son?"

"_Oldest_?!" Lois couldn't believe that the woman in front of her who barely looked thirty could have an eighteen-year-old son.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Martha sighed. "Your purpose, Lois?"

"He has answers about my cousin's murder. I told him I would meet him today."

"At five in the morning?" Martha was sceptical about that.

"I never said a time." Lois smirked.

"Well it's a Sunday, you are lucky that Clark won't be in work today. He will be working on the farm instead so until he arrives with the girls you can help me sort out the animals."

"Whoa there Ma Clampett! I just came here for your son, I'm not here for-"

"You woke up my husband and children, Miss Lane." Martha said sternly as she laced up her boots. "You can either wait for Clark whilst helping me or you can leave and come back next week. None of the family are going to be particularly thrilled to meet you based on your attitude so I suggest you prove your mettle now."

"So what? Your beloved son is just going to let my cousin's murder go unsolved?" Lois challenged.

"No. My son just won't help _you_ solve it. He probably has the whole thing already wrapped up with the authorities." Martha grabbed Lois and turned her towards the farm.

* * *

"Morning a-eugh! What happened to you three?" Dani asked as she and rest of the farm hands from the castle came to an abrupt halt in front of the barn.

Jonathan, Ku and Ryan did not look very happy.

"We got woken up at five in the morning." Ryan groused. "AGAIN!"

"She was rude to Ma." Kusano scowled.

"You don't happen to have _another_ soul mate out there do you, Clark?" Jonathan demanded.

"What? Not that I know of." Clark denied. "We would have noticed something when Harry killed me in the Hidden City."

"I was not rude." Kyla mumbled quietly.

"You were a little rude." Dani confirmed apologetically. "But you made up for it, right Jonathan?"

"Definitely pulled her weight with less cussing."

"Cussing? In front of Kusano?" Musubi was looking around worriedly for Miya to suddenly spring out with her ladle.

"She was very bad." Kusano folded her arms with a glare.

"I can't do anything for Dad and Ryan, but Ku, come and give me a kiss, that will wake you up a bit." Clark offered.

The normally energetic Kusano dragged her feet as she slumped to Clark where she puckered her lips. Ryan and Jonathan couldn't help but smile at the sight of the little girl kissing her hero. Jonathan wasn't sure how Clark was going to handle things when the girl hit puberty and the kisses weren't so innocent in her mind.

As Kusano's wings erupted from her back she was filled with energy. Something that everyone was aware of as the plant life around them suddenly became fresher.

"The horses in the stables are much happier." Ryan yawned as he could hear the thoughts of the animals munching away.

Aphrodite stepped up to Ryan and caressed his cheek.

He blinked as he suddenly felt very awake. "Wow! Thanks." Ryan smiled.

Aphrodite gave him a smile and a nod before repeating the process with Jonathan.

"You are better than any cup of coffee." He said earnestly.

"A small thing I can do for my family. Shall we go and find Ma, Kusano? I can make her feel better too."

"We can make the grass extra juicy for the cows!" Kusano said excitedly as she took the hand of the goddess and they skipped off.

"So who's the girl that got you out of bed?" Clark asked his father once it was just them and the girls.

"Lois Lane? Something about a cousin's murder?"

"Chloe?!" Kyla asked in surprise. "Chloe mentioned her, what does she think Clark has to do with her murder?"

"I honestly don't know." Jonathan sighed. "I really wasn't paying attention at _5 in the morning_." He glared at Kyla.

"Come on girls, let's help old grumpy pants." Dani sighed as she signalled the girls to follow her.

As they walked off Jonathan turned to Clark. "War paint? Feathers?"

"I'm not going to spoil her fun." Clark grinned as he walked away from Jonathan. He wasn't going to mention the tomahawk sticking out of his dad's back.

* * *

Clark couldn't help but smile as he watched Lois Lane grumpily toss hay with a pitchfork. It didn't help that Ku was happily running around and playing whilst Aphrodite and Martha enjoyed light conversation as they moved the tossed hay around.

Clark grabbed a second fork and moved to aid her.

"Kent!"

"Yes?"

"Not you, the other one."

"You'll need to be more specific dear."

Lois just glared at the smirking Martha Kent. She turned back to the man helping her. "Where the hell were you this morning?"

"No swearing!"

Lois looked at the little girl incredulously. "I didn't swear!"

"You said the 'h' word. I'll tell Miya!" Kusano threatened.

"You really don't want her to tell Miya. That woman swings a vicious ladle." Clark warned with a smile as he continued his work. "Ku, why don't you take Ma and Aphrodite to get some drinks?"

Ku nodded with a big smile before bouncing off.

Once they were alone Clark continued. "So what makes you think I know anything about Chloe and Gabe's murder?"

"My cousin sent me a video message, it said that if I got the video she was dead and that if anyone had answers it would be Clark Kent."

Clark was going to have serious words with that girl. "I know everything there is to know about the explosion, what is it you want to know?"

"I want to see the autopsy report."

Clark stopped work and leant on his fork. "That is part of the official FBI investigation. You will need to apply to them for that information."

"Your Mom said you were working with the authorities." Lois argued.

"That doesn't mean they are just going to turn over confidential reports. What are you looking to find?"

"Proof that Chloe is still alive."

There was a loud crack as Clark accidentally snapped the fork handle. He sheepishly tossed it aside. "You think she's alive?" He asked trying to seem surprised.

"Chloe is too smart to be done in by Luthor." She stood up and thrust the fork into Clark's hand before marching off.

"Where are you going?"

"To check out the remains of the house." She called over her shoulder as she retrieved her jacket.

Clark groaned as he sent out a mental message to his parents that he would be skiving off his farm work to try and keep Lois Lane out of trouble.

* * *

"Oh god." Lois muttered as she surveyed the wreckage of the safe house that was supposed to protect Gabe and Chloe. "Uncle Gabe was the sweetest man. He always had time to just talk or even play." She said wistfully as she stepped over the outer foundations.

"He always made sure there was enough food in case Chloe invited one of us over." Clark nodded.

"Why would someone do this? She was just a school kid." Lois sighed.

"She knew too much. We all kept track of what she was doing and she was smart enough to come to us when she got in too deep. She could have sat on the information or handed in anonymously but she wanted justice done so she made herself a star witness." Clark explained.

"What could Chloe know that would get her killed?" Lois asked sceptically.

"That Lionel Luthor killed his parents."

"And you just _let_ her investigate this stuff?" She accused.

"You don't 'let' Chloe do anything. She does it and you just have to prepare for the clean up." Clark chuckled in fond memory. "She got herself in trouble more than once and had to call for help in sorting things out."

"There's got to be something here." Lois scowled as she poked around the debris.

Clark was far more interested in the sound of an approaching helicopter. He saw it flying low over the fields. "Lois, do you know anything about this?"

Lois looked up at the black unmarked helicopter.

"It looks military." She answered. Her eyes widened as it came to hover a few metres away. "They are preparing to repel!"

"Why not land?" Clark asked loudly over the increased sound of the aircraft. He was not amused when he saw men covered from head to toe repel to the ground with covered faces and guns.

"Lois, start running." Clark said seriously.

Lois was just standing there so Clark began dragging her away.

"Why are they after us?" She asked as she kept running and another helicopter came over the hills.

"I don't know and I don't intend to see if they will tell us!" Clark shouted back as the second helicopter swooped down in front of them blocking their path.

"I don't think they are giving us any options!"

"We _always_ have options!" Clark shouted. "And I _always_ have backup!"

Clark and Lois were surrounded by helicopters and men with guns. It did not look good.

Clark just smiled at the nearest man and stretched out an arm pointing at a hill several metres away.

Lois followed his arm and saw a distinct glint, a reflection off of something like a scope or binoculars.

Clark then pointed to some trees in the other direction and there was another glint.

The man put a hand to his ear and spoke, Lois couldn't hear what was being said over the whir of the blades but Clark could.

He could hear the man saying they were being targeted by snipers and was awaiting further orders.

Clark just smirked and then pointed straight at the primary blades on the helicopter in front of them. Even over the sound of the helicopter the sniper bullet that hit the engine was clearly audible, as was the second and third shots that took out the engines of the other helicopters.

The men with guns immediately created a defensive perimeter to try and pick out the threats as the engines shut down.

It was suddenly very quiet.

"Put your weapons on the ground, get on your knees and put your hands behind your head." Clark instructed calmly without raising his voice.

The soldier still facing him moved to raise his gun but spun around instead when a loud slicing sound came from behind him. The soldier had barely enough time to move out of the way as the entire tail rotary section of the helicopter came crashing to the ground… neatly cleaved from the body.

"I won't repeat myself." Clark said having not moved even slightly.

Lois had darted behind Clark though.

"You have three seconds before my protection detail takes action." Clark warned. "Three… Two…"

"Everybody do as he says!" The soldier ordered quickly as he got on his knees and placed his gun on the floor with his hands folded tightly behind his head.

The others obeyed, some quicker than others.

"What the hell are you playing at?" Came an angry voice from the helicopter behind them. "I told you to ignore the snipers and take them in."

Lois and Clark spun around to see an Army General exit the helicopter that had landed behind them.

"Dad?!"

Clark looked at Lois to see the girl was shocked, she clearly had no idea her dad was involved.

"Do as you are instructed, on your knees, hands behind your head." Clark barked far more harshly than he had at the other soldiers.

General Lane pulled his side arm and pointed it at Clark.

There was a loud band and Lois and Clark where splattered with a warm liquid.

The General was now a lefty.

As realisation set in he began screaming in pain as his entire forearm was missing from the elbow joint.

Clark swore as he removed his belt, knocked the General to the floor and began tying off the wound. "If any of you are medics I suggest you get over here. My people can hear me and they won't shoot unless you make aggressive moves."

"You heard the man Medic. The General is down. Help tend the wound." The lead soldier ordered; the fear was evident in his voice.

None of the soldiers had any intention of getting shot.

Lois rushed to her father's side in distress. "Why are you doing this?" She begged tearfully.

The General grunted in agony. "Yeeesss Keeent… whhyy arre you dooooing thissss?" He said tauntingly through clenched teeth.

"No, not him. You Daddy, why are you doing this?" Lois said as anger to crept into her voice.

"To p-p-protect yooou. Toooo p-p-protect Am-m-m-erica."

"He's going into shock." Clark said loudly. Clark lightly charged his hand with a stunner and bopped the General on the forehead knocking him out.

"What did you do to him?" Lois demanded frantically.

"I knocked him out. He was panicking and it wasn't helping his body. With his mind asleep he won't aggravate his heart too much and affect his respiratory and cardiovascular systems."

"It's the best thing we could do for him ma'am." The Medic acknowledged.

"Keep an eye on him." Clark instructed the Medic.

He turned back to the lead soldier. "I have more bad news for you. My people have called an air ambulance for the General; they are en route now. Miss Lane and I are leaving now and I will have her escorted to the hospital once she has cleaned up. My people will be covering our exit, how you handle explaining the General is up to you." Clark instructed.

Despite his face being covered the soldiers eyes showed he was clearly scowling.

"Lois, we need to go."

"I'm not leaving him!" She said anxiously.

"Lane! If you stay you might lose your chance to find out about your cousin. You are currently a witness to some very illegal black-ops activities and they would happily put you in a deep dark cell just so you can't talk about it." Clark said as he easily lifted her struggling form from the ground beside her father.

"I don't care!" She cried as she struggled against him.

Clark just kept walking. "I will take you to the hospital myself Lois. I promise."

Clark took her to the trees where the nearest sniper team was.

Lois looked up but couldn't see the snipers.

"Sōgankyō." Clark called up.

He deftly reached out and caught the dropped item before handing it to Lois.

Lois snatched up the binoculars to look back at her father.

The soldiers had retrieved their weapons and were again forming a perimeter.

Clark began speaking in a language she recognised as Japanese even if she didn't understand it. She was surprised to hear a woman's voice respond in the same language.

"What? What's happening?" She demanded.

"I'm just making sure that the sniper teams keep letting the General's men know we are here and not to try anything stupid."

The woman called down again.

"The emergency chopper is coming in." Clark translated as he pointed at the hill.

Lois went back to looking at the scene, watching for the next few minutes as her father was attended to by paramedics and then loaded onto the chopper. His severed hand, still clutching the gun, was placed in a medical cooler.

Once the chopper was out of sight the men started hiking away.

"Why aren't they using their radios to call for a pick up?" Lois wondered.

"Because we are blocking their transmissions." Came a new voice.

Lois dropped the binoculars and moved into a defensive position only to see two men and several women in camouflage marching up. Several of the women including the man in front carried sniper rifles.

"Which of you bastards shot my dad?" She snarled.

"I shot the man who had the gall to point a weapon at a member of my family." The man said as he got up into her personal space. "You should be damned glad I didn't decide to take his life."

"Did you pick up any chatter?" Clark asked, trying to break up the staring contest between Xander and Lois.

"Nothing revealing." Matsu said disappointedly.

"We'll report it to the Prime Minister and give him the footage." Xander said dismissively. "We'll make sure he passes a message on… next time we kill them all."

"Who the hell are you people?" Lois asked as she began to pale. She was starting to realise that armed people who had no reservations about killing and that she was related to their last target surrounded her.

"Japanese Diplomatic Protection Detail." Xander smirked.

"You're Japanese?" She scoffed.

"I have Japanese citizenship."

"Ladies, I want the helicopters searched for anything that might give us more information. Matsu, keep monitoring the airwaves." Clark ordered.

Lois couldn't help but feel a little… inferior as the stunningly beautiful and well-endowed women walked past her.

"Xander, I'm taking Lois back to the farm to clean up. Afterwards I'll be taking her to see her father."

"Not without a visible escort you won't be." Xander muttered. "I'll have them waiting for you."

* * *

Lois couldn't believe what she was seeing as she exited the farmhouse. Outside was a limo and arrayed in front of the limo were three of the women that had been with the snipers. They were all dressed casually… and some of them indecently. None of the three women wore trousers, and their hemlines barely passed their crotches. The amount of cleavage on display was… indecent.

"What the hell Smallville? You said you were taking me to see my Dad." Lois snapped irritably.

Clark had been arguing with another woman who was dressed much more conservatively in a Japanese styled long skirt and blouse.

But she had purple hair.

The pair were conversing heatedly in Japanese, they stopped at her voice.

"I am Lois."

"Then what's with all the United Barbies of Benetton?"

"Lois, you really need to check your attitude." Clark snapped. "Less than two hours ago we were attacked by armed men led by your father, the only reason we aren't sitting in a cell somewhere is because of these women."

"That's what I want to know Smallville. Why do you have all these femme fatales following you? What's with the expensive limo?"

"Didn't you do any research on me before you met me? I'm Clark Kent, the owner of MBI and a close friend of the Japanese Emperor. I have Japanese diplomatic credentials and myself and my company are retained as diplomatic advisors to the Ambassador from Japan." Clark was now in Lois' face. "Your father almost started a full on war with the Alliance."

"You expect me to bel-"

"You have a phone, look me up." Clark said before turning back to the limo. "These three ladies are Tsukiumi, Kazehana and Musubi. Any problems that arise they can handle. This is Miya, their leader."

"They can handle fully trained soldiers in hand-to-hand?" She scoffed.

Clark rolled his eyes as the three bodyguards looked fairly indignant.

Miya just smirked. "You have just proven that they have won the initial battle. They have caused you to underestimate them. Clark, we will see you for dinner. Girls, stay alert." She instructed before walking past Clark and Lois and back into the house.

"Lets go Lois before you decide to become any more insulting to my friends." Clark was not happy with her.

* * *

"What do you do Lois?" Musubi asked as they sat in the back of the limo on the way to the Smallville Medical Centre.

"I supposed to be going to Metropolis U this year. I might drop out if I haven't found Chloe by then." Lois said wistfully. "What about you what do you do?"

"I hit things!" She declared happily.

Clark and Kazehana chuckled at her response as Tsukiumi scowled. "That is not what she meant thou Dillard! She meanest thy job, and thy interests."

"I hit things for my job too!" Musubi argued.

"I like to hit things too." Lois smirked. "The bigger the better."

"Would you like to spar with me?" Musubi asked excitedly.

"Maybe another time Musubi." Clark said with quiet authority. "You can't go around asking to spar with everyone."

"And how many times has she kicked your ass Smallville?"

"What is the meaning of this title: 'Smallville'?" Tsukiumi asked in confusion. "Art we to refer to thee by thy birthplace? It would hardly seem logical as the three of us were born in Tokyo."

"It's a nickname of sorts Tsukiumi." Kazehana explained with a playful smile. "A term of affection and endearment. Just like how Diana and Grandfather have special names for Kusano and we call her Ku."

"Ah." Tsukiumi said knowingly as she ignored the mortified and red faces of Lois and Clark. "But knowest this Lois Lane, thou must be approved by Clark's other wives as well as us before-"

"Tsukiumi!" Clark interrupted quickly.

"Other wives?" Lois asked weakly.

"Long… classified… private… story." Clark glared at Tsukiumi.

"But she shows affection-"

"That was not affection, I was making f-"

"You should really stop talking." Kazehana interrupted. "Nothing you say will end well for you on this subject."

"Just remember Alicia and what happened there." Clark told Tsukiumi.

Kazehana turned back to Lois. "When we aren't working we help out at the Kent farm. None of us are really farmers but we are close to the Kents and enjoy helping them. What do you do for fun?"

"What most kids do I suppose. Go out, go clubbing, dancing, drinking-"

"Drinking?! Thou art too young!" Tsukiumi gasped in mortification. "Clark, we must speak with this girls parents immediately!"

"Ok, what the hell is with you?" Lois scowled. "Nobody talks like that! All those thous and thys."

"This was how I was taught to speak. It is the way a proper lady speaks." Tsukiumi said as she looked down her nose at Lois.

"The girls only recently learnt to speak English." Clark explained. "Somebody kept giving Tsukiumi… translations that were slightly off. She only speaks an older dialect of Japanese."

"I think it's nice." Musubi offered.

"Thank you Musubi." Tsukiumi said sincerely.

"We've arrived." Kazehana announced as she moved for the door.

As the group moved through the Medical Centre doctors, nurses, receptionists and patients greeted them alike. Kent and Potter were household names in Smallville. Henry Small had actually proposed renaming the town Pottersville or Kentville. Harry had just laughed but the unofficial nickname of the town was now Clarksville. The man in question was still mortified.

They took the elevator to the top floor, Clark and his Sekirei each took notice of the undercover agents that were loitering about. They were likely military intelligence.

"Miss Lane is here to see her father." Kazehana informed the soldiers guarding the door.

"No visitors." The guard said flatly.

"That's my dad in there, soldier." Lois snapped at the man.

"_No_ visitors. No _exceptions_." He enunciated.

"On whose orders?"

"The General's."

"Dr. Bryce, do you know who is treating General Lane?" Clark asked Helen as she walked by.

"No one. He won't let anyone see him and neither will these soldiers. We put him in the room and then he had us thrown out, we didn't get to see to his injuries or anything." She scowled. "They damn near broke Dr. Scanlan's arm."

"Does Harry know?"

"We haven't informed him yet."

"I'll do that now." Clark said as he pulled out his phone.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Harry called out as he jogged down the corridor in his white coat.

"Wait… I know you! You're Doctor Harry Potter, friend of the Supers!" Lois exclaimed.

"And this is why I like working in Smallville." Harry sighed. "Everybody already knows me and doesn't feel the need to keep stating the obvious."

"Oh my god! Harry Potter! Have you really seen Superman, just how hot is Wonder Woman?" A nearby man asked excitedly as he stood there with his young son.

"Get out of here Alec!" Harry snapped without malice. "You keep this up and I'll be round your shop and I'll switch all the price tags around!"

The man just laughed and walked off with his son.

"Anyway, as I was saying, aside from the occasional nut job-" He glared after Alec. "-privacy is respected."

"This is Mr. Pot calling Mr. Kettle." Clark muttered causing the Sekirei to laugh.

Harry glared at Clark before turning to Helen. "I sent Scanlan home with a partially dislocated shoulder. He'll be fine for paperwork or as long as he has someone to do the physical stuff for a few days." He then turned to the soldier. "This is a private hospital. Not a motel. If your _General_ is here then he has to see one of our doctors, otherwise pack him up and take him elsewhere."

"Our orders are to guard the General until an authorised doctor arrives. No exceptions." The soldier glared back.

"You have ten minutes to speak to your General before I call the Sheriff. You should probably warn him she has a thing for men in uniform." Harry smirked as he walked off.

Unfortunately Lois was hot on his tail.

"You can't just throw my dad out! He's badly hurt!"

"Miss Lane, right?" Harry asked as he continued walking. "If your father was that badly hurt he would have let us see to him. If he can wait for a doctor to arrive then he can just as easily visit them. Especially as I pretty much know the extent of his injuries."

"How could you know? You just said he wouldn't let you see him."

"The Paramedics who collected him were very thorough."

"Harry, she just saw her dad get seriously injured." Clark said warningly as he and the Sekirei came up.

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I apologise Miss Lane. The fact of the matter is that despite the fact that your father will need a prosthesis he will live. All that remains to be seen is how he copes mentally."

"You couldn't reattach his hand?"

"No, it wasn't sliced off, it was shot off with a high-calibre bullet, it shredded a good deal of the arm."

"Oh god." Lois whimpered.

"It could have been a lot worse." Harry said firmly.

"He lost an arm!"

"He could have lost his life. He pointed a gun at a man with diplomatic immunity and a member of my family. The protection detail doesn't usually show compassion for men like your father. In fact they didn't… they were showing compassion for you." Harry said heatedly before he stormed off.

Lois looked to be building up a head of steam.

Kazehana stepped up to try and cool her off. "Clark is Harry's brother, Lois. That is why Harry is angry. You need to remember that not two hours ago that armed men in helicopters were chasing you and that they threatened to kill Clark at the very least. Clark has never done anything to deserve that and what is more is that he is protected politically by the Japanese government."

"Come on, let's go get some coffee and ice cream." Musubi suggested as she took Lois by the elbow.

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding Smallville back there?" Lois asked as she looked over her shoulder to see Tsukiumi and Clark staying put as Musubi and Kazehana dragged her off.

"Don't be silly. Clark protects us. We are here to protect you." Musubi laughed.

* * *

The time had finally come.

Clark would now have to face any challengers for the hand of Aphrodite.

Or at least his champion would.

The challenges would take place in Harry's home world just as the challenge between Clark and Thor had. In attendance were the entire courts of Olympus and Asgard… and nearly every friend of Clark and Harry's.

There were literally thousands of beings standing or floating around in a circle waiting to watch what would happen.

Zeus stood on a cloud high above them all. "I greet you all in the name of Olympus. A week ago Lord Kal-El of Asgard came to me and asked for the hand of my daughter Aphrodite in marriage. As is the custom of Olympus, any who wish to challenge Lord Kal-El's claim may do so in combat.

"Anything is acceptable as Lord Death has agreed to stave off true death for this event.

"In agreement with myself, Lord Odin and Lord Kal-El, the Lady Miya, Goddess of the Sekirei will fight in Lord Kal-El's place."

A bright purple light suddenly moved out from amongst the assembled Sekirei and castle residents. Miya's power was exceptional and it was all on display as she landed gracefully dressed in her uniform with her sword by her side.

"Who is the first challenger?" Zeus asked.

"I am."

Dressed in midnight blue armour with a cape and helmet that obscured all but his red eyes stepped out Ares. The Greek God of War.

"Aphrodite is mine and I will crush this wench and then teach her her place." Ares spat.

There was a rush of wind and Ares was suddenly flat on his back with a huge dragon's claw pinning him down. Harry's muzzle was dripping fire as he bent his angry visage towards Ares.

"Mind your tongue boy." He hissed. "Insult my wife again and there will be no challengers as I will kill you myself."

"You interfere with sacred rituals!" Ares gloated. "The Asgardian has forfeited the match to me."

"No he has not." Athena spat as she marched up. "He confronted and attacked you before combat was declared and he did so because you made an attack on his family."

Ares tilted his head back so he could lookup at Zeus.

"You are only making things easier for Lord Kal-El." He shrugged.

"I will allow you to continue your challenge… but only so my wife can punish you herself." Harry sneered as he morphed back to human form. He teleported back to his wife and kissed her deeply. The wings on her back glowed too brightly and all had to cover their eyes.

When the glow abated Miya was seen standing there alone with her sword out and ready to fight.

"Let combat begin!" Zeus declared.

Ares roared as he began to charge.

So did Miya. "HAVE AT THEE!"

Back in the crowds Clark was banging his forehead with the palm of his hand. "What is with you people?" He asked exasperatedly.

"It is a noble war cry!" Thor, who had travelled with many of Harry's friends from his universe, said happily.

"And manly too." Hercules added as he puffed out his chest.

Miya swung her sword and it sliced through the air.

Ares was still several metres away when the shockwave hit him and sent him flying backwards.

He groggily picked himself up off the floor.

***Clang***

Ares looked down and saw that the bottom half of his breastplate had fallen to the floor having been neatly sliced.

"CURSE YOU WOMAN!" Ares roared as he began another charge.

Miya just stood there with a sly smile as she raised a hand and pointed at Ares sword.

Ares chanced a glance at his raised weapon and came to a stuttering stop.

He still held his sword… but most of the blade was missing.

"What trickery is this?" Ares demanded. "You would use magic in a battle of blades?"

Miya's smile dropped into a scowl and she leapt high into the air where she raised her katana and swung it down with all her might.

The force created a crater twenty metres in diameter. In the bottom of the crater was Ares lying flat on his back. His helmet fell away from his head revealing that it too had been sliced in two.

"Do you concede? Or must I end your life?" Miya asked angrily.

"I will never… surrender to a… woman." Ares said as he struggled to his feet.

Laughter erupted from the crowd.

Miya turned away and walked back towards her husband.

Ares frowned and looked down.

As he had stood up the remainder of his clothes fell to the floor.

Ares roared in rage and charged at the purple-haired goddess with his bare hands.

Miya kept walking until she knew he was close enough, she spun on her heel bring her sword up in two quick motions.

There were three separate thuds as Ares fell to the floor, his arms following separately.

Ares suddenly screamed in pain.

It was muffled by his face being planted firmly in the ground.

"Do you yield or must I remove you soul from your body?" Miya snapped.

"I. WILL. NEVER. YIELD!" Ares roared as he attempted to manoeuvre his legs beneath so he could kneel.

"Miya… end it." Clark instructed from the crowd.

She grunted in displeasure but placed a foot on Ares' back and swung her sword before bringing it down.

There were a further two thuds.

There was a lot of cheering from one section of the crowds… mainly those of Harry's friends.

From the rest there was a stunned silence.

"Are there any others that would challenge my husband's brother's claim to the Lady Aphrodite's hand?" Miya called out.

Kyla who was standing near by noticed that the Flash was whistling innocently. The Flash was invited in his role as the Avatar of Time.

"Really? You were going to challenge Clark?" Kyla laughed.

"Not really." He said earnestly. "But… it's Aphrodite! I figured the least I could do was make an effort. A woman like that deserves it!"

Nobody would ever admit it but The Flash suddenly found himself pushed out into the arena. The assembled gods and beings gasped.

"Avatar of Time?" Zeus asked incredulously. "You would challenge Lord Kal-El for my daughter's hand?"

The Flash snapped around to glare at Xander, Neville and Logan who had all been standing behind him… and were all wearing the happiest smiles.

"The lady deserves an effort." Logan grinned.

The Flash turned to look at Miya who was rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration at her in-law's antics. Then he looked to Zeus who was clearly very worried and Aphrodite who was attempting not to giggle.

"My Lords and Ladies." He said nervously. "I- erm… I would be a fool not to admit that I am envious of- erm… Lord Kal-El for making his claim." He swallowed and tried to think of how to worm his way out of this. "But I am an Avatar of Time… I would be err… wrong? Foolish! That's it; foolish to think I could… or even _should_ come between an Avatar of Love and the one _they_ love.

"So… So! As the Avatar of Time I offer my blessing!" He figured he had made his excuse and now he could sweeten the pot. "May their union last from now until the end of Existence."

He gave a very deep bow and then vanished in a blur back to his place in the crowd.

"You do that to me again and I'll push _you_ out!" He muttered loud enough for the three monkeys to hear.

"Thank you… Avatar." Zeus said carefully. "If there are no other challengers?"

Nobody was stupid enough to try and take on Miya. Those who relied on strength and the sword had no idea how to get in range to attack her and those who relied on magic weren't sure how to defend against her attacks.

The rest had too much respect for the man who rescued Death.

That or they were too chicken to piss Death off.

"Then in accordance with our customs I present my daughter, Aphrodite to Lord Kal-El of Asgard!"

A great cheer went up from the majority of the crowd.

The rest were pretty pissed at antiquated and demeaning assumption that the goddess was something to passed around like a bowl.

Clark simply rose up into the air and flew steadily to the cloud that his future wife and father-in-law were seated on.

Zeus held out Aphrodite's hand and Clark took it, all three were smiling.

"In one month we shall hold a celebration of their joining. Let all the pantheons rejoice!" Zeus declared causing the crowds to erupt in cheers again.

The month long wait was at both Clark and Aphrodite's request so that Chloe could join them.

"I have waited for tonight for so long." Aphrodite smiled seductively at him as she put her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

When they eventually broke apart Clark was a little confused. "Tonight? I thought we had to wait till we were married."

Zeus chuckled. "You are married. You have met your challengers and won the hand of my daughter. The celebration is just that… a celebration."

There was a sudden drop in noise as Harry appeared in the centre of the arena.

They watched as he reached out and at the end of his hand, Ares' soul appeared. He silently placed the deity back in his decapitated body before making it stand up with arms or head. He then picked up the head and rammed it on to the shoulders. A wave of his hand and the head was firmly attached and the shoulder stumps were sealed… but without arms.

Ares suddenly woke up and looked furious… but powerless.

"You insulted my wife." Harry said clearly for all assembled to hear. "You will now pay for your crime. For ten years you will live without arms, having to rely on the kindness and charity of others to help you. If you have learnt to be a better man I will restore your arms."

"I may not be able to touch you Aspect." Ares growled. "But I will destroy everything you hold dear. Your life will be miserable as you hear the screams of your women and children as my people defile them! You will wail in-"

There was a horrible wrenching sound and the crowd was shocked as they watched Kal-El vanish from beside Zeus and Aphrodite to behind Ares where he simply pulled off the man's head.

"Master, he does not deserve to exist." Clark snarled at the soul he could sense.

Harry's face was a mask of neutrality. No emotion was evident. "Your judgement is sound, Apprentice."

For a second time the soul of the Greek God of War appeared before it began to scream silently as it was dispersed to a final death.

"The judgement of Lord Death is final. The Judgement of Lord Death is just."

Everyone turned to see Ares of the X-Men's world standing just inside the arena.

His words weren't instructions; they were just a statement of fact.


	53. Chapter 53

Clark and Aphrodite spent their wedding night in the Savage Land. They also spent most of the week there. The rest of Clark's wives and soul mates eventually joined them.

This left the others to deal with Lois Lane. Lana had offered her house to the cousin of her Amazon sister. She had decided not to rent it out as it was useful for situations like this. For her safety Akitsu, Uzume and Chiho stayed with her. Uzume and Lois got along like a house on fire, Akitsu and Chiho where the quiet pair who just enjoyed watching their antics.

Akitsu spent the time teaching Chiho how to detect various agents who were tailing them and staking them out. The pair would then come up with numerous ways to get rid of them. The first were dealt with by a simple fire that forced them to evacuate. The second suffered from an incredibly bad smell that they eventually discovered to be a pair of skunks.

The pair got increasingly worse with the practical jokes they played on the various teams sent. None were truly hurt… but several were successfully terrorised.

Lois used the time with Uzume to pump her for information. It wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. Uzume often came off as an absent-minded airhead, but she wasn't a member of the Discipline Squad just because of her number.

"What the hell is with Smallville being surrounded by hot women all the time?" She asked as they sat at a table in the talon.

"Smallville is just where they live." Uzume shrugged. "There are plenty of handsome men here too."

"Kent, Clark Kent, I meant why is _he_ surrounded by hot chicas?" Lois often forgot that English was a second and fairly new language for most of the women. They were Japanese by birth.

"What are 'chicas'?"

"Girls, broads, women, members of the double-x brigade."

"Oh." Uzume only understood 'girls' and 'women'. Lois often used slang and colloquialism that even Chiho couldn't interpret. "Well, many of us work for his company. The rest are just his friends."

"And all of you just happened to be highly trained bodyguards?" She asked sceptically.

"We were chosen because of who we are." Uzume corrected. "Then we were trained."

"Did they pick you because you were all hot?"

Uzume couldn't help but smirk. "No, that just occurred naturally. Some of us are men."

"Then why you? What made you so special?"

"_That_ is classified." She smiled.

"And you wonder why the American government wants you so badly."

* * *

General Lane was moved straight to Washington for treatment. He was told that there was nothing they could except fit him with prosthesis. He was haunted at night by the look in Kent's eyes just before he watched his arm vanish in an explosion of flesh, blood and bone.

"General Lane, I heard you were injured."

The General looked up to the door of his hospital room as Lex Luthor closed the door behind him and took a seat in the chair. "Any chance this was the work of a Super that we could use in the press?"

The General scowled. "No. I was attempting to acquire Clark Kent as leverage over Potter. He somehow managed to have my entire team of commandos surrounded by snipers and one shot my arm off. I received… a warning, that if we tried to go public with this they would release the entire video of the whole operation to the public."

"A warning from who?"

"I don't know, but they showed me a clip. They had no reason to bluff."

"Well we have made great strides in cloning and robotics, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement." Lex said amicably.

Lane didn't buy it for a minute. He knew there would be a catch, but right now he didn't care. Right now he wanted revenge.

"We'll talk more when I get back." Lex said as he stood.

"You're travelling?"

"I'm funding a dig in Egypt, they tell me they've found something and I want to go in person."

* * *

Lana woke up feeling like utter crap. What was worse was that she had no idea how she had gotten back to the hotel room or why she was naked.

If she found out Jason had anything to do with this she was going to kick his butt… and then she'd let the rest of her friends have a go.

She vaguely re-called visiting a church where an old ancestor of hers was buried. Chiho had been assigned the family tree project in school and she had decided to try and track down everyone else's. She had discovered that Lana was related to a French Countess named Margaret Isobel Thoreaux, she had sent her the information and she and Jason had headed to the church.

That was all she remembered.

There was a knock at the door… it was far too loud for her aching head. She wrapped the blankets around her and struggled to the door before opening it slightly.

"Kyla?"

"What the hell happened to you?" Kyla demanded as she pushed Lana back into the room, behind her Chiho, Uzume, the Triplets and Kusano wandered in with ten-year-old Chloe.

"Don't swear!" Kusano scolded.

"Later Ku." Uzume hushed her. "Lana, you look terrible, what happened?"

"I- I really don't know. I remember going to that church yesterday that Chiho told me about, but… nothing else." Lana rubbed her temples partly in pain and partly in frustration.

"Would you like us to take a look?" Phoebe asked.

Lana just nodded.

The Triplets joined hands as their eyes started to glow, they focused their abilities on Lana Lang, they spoke as one.

"The memories are here. A bright light, then you were gone. No longer in control, your body moved on its own, taking you back here. That is all there is."

They released their hands as the glow receded.

"So something happened at the church." Kyla mused. "I'll take Uzume and Chiho and we'll check out the church. You three stay with Lana and make sure she doesn't vanish. Come on girls." She said as she headed out the door.

The Cuckoos stared at the closing door with amused looks. "You would think she'd forgotten we were thousands of years older than her." Phoebe commented.

"You don't act it." Lana sighed. "You do very well at playing teenage girls."

Mindee stepped forward and cast a healing charm on Lana's head. "Go and get washed. We'll clean up."

Lana wasn't gone for more than two minutes before she came storming back in naked and soaking wet. "What the hell is that?" She demanded.

"Swearing!" Kusano and Chloe chorused angrily.

"Not now girls." Celeste hushed them.

"You don't remember getting a tattoo?" Phoebe asked.

"I didn't have it yesterday and you said I came straight home."

Mindee knelt down and examined the tattoo on her lower back. "There is some magic in here." She muttered. "Harry can probably tell us more though."

"_That_ is an interesting tattoo."

Lana screeched as she ran back into the bathroom.

"Was it something I said?" Harry asked as Celeste followed after Lana.

"No boys allowed!" Chloe wagged a finger at him.

"It doesn't count when the boy is your doctor, Chloe." Mindee explained.

"But that doesn't excuse not knocking or announcing yourself." Phoebe glared at Harry.

***THWACK***

"OW!" Harry stood there rubbing his head as a newly appeared Miya stood there tapping the palm of her hand with her ladle.

"Did you follow me just so you could hit me?!"

"Chloe said you were being naughty, so I thought I should come and keep an eye on you." She poorly hid her amusement behind her glare.

"This I what we get for letting Hope teach her before she remembers herself."

"I think it is a great idea." Phoebe shrugged.

"It will be an interesting experience for our next Burning Day." Mindee nodded.

Chloe was learning about magic very quickly, it was very likely that she would be just as proficient at magic as Harry and Xander by the time she remembered herself. Most Phoenixes weren't taught about magic during their growing up stage post-Burning Day, they eventually remembered on their own. Hope was experimenting with Chloe whilst she taught her about being a Phoenix.

The major problem for dealing with Chloe was that she was still learning to control her natural ability to make people tell the truth. It caused some very interesting situations.

"What is this tattoo?" Lana demanded as she came back dressed in conjured sweats and a tank top that allowed the tattoo to be seen.

"It's an unusual symbol." Harry mused. "It appears to be part of a rune set but without knowing the language it is difficult to know what it means."

"Would you mind if we shared an image of the tattoo with the rest of the family?" Phoebe asked.

"As long as you only show the tattoo." She agreed with a glare at Harry.

A few seconds later there was a knock at the door.

Phoebe opened it and Clark walked in.

"It's Kryptonian." He said without pre-amble. "It's the symbol for water… and transference."

"Transferring what?" Lana asked worriedly.

"Anything, it was used for everything from banking to transport." Clark frowned as he knelt down behind Lana to examine the tattoo more closely. "Without more context there is no way to tell what this relates too."

"Kyla, Uzume and Chiho are at the church where this happened." Mindee told them.

"We'll join them then." Clark nodded as he headed for the door.

"Whoa!"

Lana was mortified to hear Jason's voice as Clark opened the door. She quickly ran for the bathroom to change into clothes that were more suitable for company.

"Jason, hi." Clark said hesitantly. "Erm… come in. Let me introduce you to Phoebe, Mindee and Celeste Cuckoo."

Jason physically blanched at the smirk the beautiful blonde triplets gave him.

"Hi Jason."

The creepy way they spoke as one didn't help. "Hi." He grimaced at the adolescent squeak in his voice.

"And this is Harry Potter."

"As in…"

"Dr. Harry Potter, friend to the super heroes." Clark nodded.

"Hi!" Harry gave cheerful wave.

Clark looked around but couldn't see Miya, Kusano and Chloe. He looked to Phoebe who just gave him a wink. He couldn't sense their souls so he assumed they had been teleported home.

Fortunately Jason was still speechless at meeting the now world famous Harry Potter.

"We were just headed out. Tell Lana we'll see her at dinner?" Clark noticed that Jason wasn't very responsive. "Jason!"

"Huh? What?"

"We're leaving." Clark enunciated.

"We are?" Jason asked dumbly.

"Celeste, would you go and check with Lana?" Clark sighed as he grabbed Jason by the shoulder and manoeuvred him to sit on the bed.

"You really know Superman?" Jason managed to ask Harry with obvious awe.

"Sure, he's a good man." Harry smirked. "Tends to whine a little too often."

Clark just glared at him.

"Whine? About what? He can do all those amazing things and he has that _incredibly_ hot girlfriend!"

"Excuse me?!"

Jason fell off the bed as he tried to turn in shock at Lana's voice.

"Lana! Hi!"

"You are checking out other women now?" She asked with her arms crossed.

"Lay off Lana." Clark rolled his eyes. "Even you think she's beautiful. Jason is here with you and doesn't deserve to be put through any of your… feminine tests."

Clark blanched as the glare turned to him along with identical glares from the triplets. "Jason… you're on your own."

He grabbed Harry by the shoulder and dragged the Aspect of Death wearing the shit-eating grin out of the room.

* * *

Lana really hadn't felt like spending the day sightseeing and exploring with Jason. She really liked him and knew she was falling fast for him despite only knowing him a few weeks. The problem was that she felt like she had a target on her back with that tattoo… _on her back_.

She wanted to be back at the castle with the others researching what it could be or for Harry to at least try and remove it. There just hadn't been time with Jason arriving that morning. She was just lucky that Kyla and the others had arrived some thirty minutes before Jason did.

"I'm beginning to feel like I'm going to have to take some drastic measures here Lana." Jason eventually sighed as they where walking down the banks of the River Seine.

Lana was definitely confused. "What do you mean?"

"You are distracted by something and I feel like I'm not getting the attention I deserve! It's your birthday! I should be getting beaucoup points for making this a day to remember." He said with a hint of dramatics.

Lana just smiled, she really liked the way Jason made her laugh. It was different to how Harry and Xander would clown around like Laurel and Hardy at times.

"I'm sorry, I've just been a bit pre-occupied." She apologised as she hugged his arm in an attempt to show she was happy to play his game. "My friend died recently and I feel I need to go home and help sort things out. She was like a sister to me."

"Ah…" Jason said awkwardly. "When are you leaving?"

"This week. I still have a year left of high school to finish as well."

"Well there goes my good mood." Jason grumbled.

"This doesn't have to be the end. We can still talk and visit. This is the 21st century, the world is a much smaller place." She assured him.

"Oh god!" Jason exclaimed in horror. "I think you found a new way to say 'let's just be friends'!"

"It's not that bad!" She laughed. "This. Is. Not. The. End." She stated firmly. "Clark won't let it be the end, I think he likes you and I know he wants me to be happy so he will probably keep kicking me out here whenever I have the time."

"It feels so weird to have a girls ex trying to set us up."

Lana stopped and turned to face him. "Are you going to keep moaning for the rest of my birthday?" She demanded.

"Ma'am! No ma'am!" Jason said quickly. "Happy party time here we go."

"Yes, we have two hours before we meet the others." She said as she linked with his arm again and pulled him forward to the hotel.

"Two hours? Two hours before I meet the entirety of your family." He shuddered.

* * *

The only people missing from the party were Gabriel and Chloe. Both wanted to be there but knew they couldn't without raising a lot of questions.

Lana intended to travel to Japan that night and spend some time with the child version of one of her best friends. For now Chloe was with Hope learning more about Phoenixes and magic.

Jason was constantly squirming under the intense questioning he received from Kyla and some of the Sekirei. When he wasn't trying to traverse that minefield he was trying not to stare at the very healthy endowments on display at the table. He felt a little bit justified as he noticed more than one table around the restaurant empty when the female noticed her male companion staring at their table.

It was very difficult considering they all enjoyed laughing and that did interesting things to their… endowments.

"Would you all excuse me please." Clark said with a wince. "I'm… suddenly not feeling well."

Kyla and several of the girls stood up, Kyla waved the others back down and walked Clark to the door.

"What's wrong?"

"I think someone has discovered one of the Stones." Clark rubbed his temple. "I can hear it."

"Let's go get it then!"

"You can't, I have to fly fast and you know that will tear your skin off." Clark reminded her.

"I'll put up a shield."

"Kyla, we tried those out. They don't stand up. Harry can only survive because of his healing abilities."

Kyla looked back at the table and sent a mental message to Laura. The ebony haired woman quickly made her excuses and joined them at the door.

"Clark needs to go after one of the Stones. Can you give him backup? Only three of us can survive Clark's high speed." Kyla explained the situation quickly.

"We're on it." Laura said quickly as she nudged Clark out the door.

Kyla returned to her seat and gave an explanation that Laura was taking care of Clark so she could interrogate Jason some more.

* * *

As Clark flew through the air at super speeds he held Laura tightly to his chest. He was flying backwards and upside down and practically curled around the woman to try and protect her. Laura herself had a bubblehead charm on so she could breathe.

Eventually Clark came to a stop in mid-air.

"_That's where the signal is coming from."_ Clark sent to Laura with his newly available magical telepathy.

"_Let's use stealth then."_

"_It's Lex's jet, can't we just rip the doors off?"_ Clark begged.

"_Stealth, Clark."_ She insisted as she went invisible.

Clark did the same as he shot forward and landed on the fast moving jet. Clark then phased the both of them through the top and into the interior.

They were surprised to see Lex lying on a table with medical equipment attached to him.

They weren't here for Lex though; they were here for the stone. Unfortunately the stone was sitting in Lex's hand as the man examined it.

"_Ideas?"_ Clark asked his invisible partner.

"_We could take the stone and obliviate him of the knowledge he ever had it."_

"_No, Lex is a genius. He'd eventually notice any holes in whatever story we put in place."_

"_We could wait for him to put it down and then perform a switching spell on it. Replace it with a conjured fake."_

"_Oh god."_

"_What?" _ Laura asked.

"_I have an idea that will prove that I have been completely corrupted by Harry."_

* * *

"M-M-Mr Luthor!"

Lex sighed irritably as Doctor Gabrielle Vaughn, the woman treating him a recent poisoning attempt on him, began stuttering like a little girl.

"What now Doctor?"

"T-th-th-there!"

Lex looked up and was surprised to see a black mist coalescing on the floor at the end of his bed. As he watched he saw he saw a cloaked figure rise up out of the mist and the floor itself.

The cloak was pitch black and very tattered, a silver tube was held in one hand. The face was obscured despite Lex having a direct line of sight under the hood.

"You have taken what doesn't belong to you." The being said as he pointed at the stone in Lex's hand. The voice was deep but raspy.

Lex was not a man to scare easily, he also didn't intimidate easily. "I keep what I find."

"I have found you. Should _I_ keep you?" The being asked with head tilted questioningly. "My Master has no policy on pets. He might allow me to keep you as one."

"I am Lex Luthor and no one owns me." Lex sneered as he moved to get off the bed.

He froze as the silver tube came up and red beam of light erupted from the end stopping just before it touched the medical equipment.

Lex knew a lightsabre when he saw one. That was advanced technology, it didn't matter that it was fictional, it just meant genius nerds had tried to create a functioning one.

Lex saw an opportunity. "Perhaps we can trade for the stone."

The being started to laugh.

Lex scowled angrily.

"Stupid creature. _I_ do not need the stone. It is you who does not deserve the stone. The only thing you have worth trading is your life… which I hold in my hands."

Sparks flew as the lightsabre was gently tapped on the top of the medical equipment leaving scorch marks but no other damage.

"You may keep the stone… but not your life as well… and when I have your life… you won't need the stone."

Lex could hear the smugness and he hated it.

"What assurances do I have that you won't kill me once you have the stone?"

"If I wanted you dead, you would be dead… and I would have the stone. I am merely showing you my generosity by allowing you to live."

Lex growled angrily, he knew he didn't have any options right now. He tossed the stone onto the bed.

The being stood there, still holding his lightsabre over the medical equipment threateningly.

"You have the stone!" Lex said with a hint of desperation.

The being chuckled as it deactivated the weapon and picked up the stone with a skeletal hand. "I do so love it when arrogant mortals beg."

The being then began to sink back into the ground until it and the mist vanished.

Lex angrily got back on the bed. He looked around for the doctor and saw her passed out on the floor.

This just made Lex even more frustrated.

* * *

Xander arrived back at the castle with Clark and Laura who had been watching invisibly.

"The Crystal of Fire." Clark nodded as he read the markings on the crystal.

"Right." Xander nodded. "So all we need are the crystals of water, wind, earth and heart and then by their powers combined-"

"We get it Xander." Clark interrupted. "And there are only three stones. Fire, water and air."

"Where are you planning on keeping that thing?" Xander asked grumpily.

"Under my bed."

"In what? A shoebox?" Xander asked incredulously.

"I was thinking a safe."

"But why your bed?" Laura asked curiously.

"Because in my bed there are usually two deities, an Amazon warrior and several other women who can decimate armies."

"Wow… all I ever had was a Veela and a Metamorph… actually I once had several metamorphs and Veela… but they were my kids and they were just playing on the big bed." Xander mused. He turned to Clark with a huge grin. "Imagine how many little deities and Sekirei will be playing on _your_ bed!"

"I'm over a hundred years old Xander, I've had time to come to terms with it." Clark smirked as he walked off.

He didn't realise that both Xander and Laura were trying not to laugh as they could smell his fear and panic.

* * *

"I can't believe that goddamned bastard- OW!" Chloe rubbed her head as she glared at Miya.

Chloe had woken up that morning and finally remembered her life. She still looked to be about fourteen but that was easily overcome with glamours. She had just been told about the confrontation between Clark and her uncle.

"Does she mean me or her uncle?" Xander asked Logan with a stage whisper.

"Is there really a difference?"

"My Uncle Sam is the b-Ah… bad guy! Bad guy!" She said frantically as she dodged the raised ladle.

"Why was he trying to get Clark? Why wait until Lois was with him?"

"We aren't sure what he was after." Laura explained.

"Probably thought the kid was the weak link." Logan offered. "Not many people know about his position in MBI, but he is known as a friend of Harry. Isn't he listed as his biological brother?"

"Whoa… so he wanted to use Clark as leverage to get to Harry?" Xander asked.

"Harry has too much protection… too much _visible_ protection. Clark, not so much."

"Makes me wish I had just killed him."

"So now that you are back with us mentally, how do you want to handle your miraculous escape?" Harry asked Chloe and Gabe who was there for this meeting.

"Oh! I know!" Musubi raised her hand eagerly.

"The Chair recognises the bouncy young lady." Harry said officiously.

"Huh?"

"You!"

"Oh… well, we could say that Superman, being a friend of Harry Potter, was keeping an eye on the Sullivans and that he heard the bomb ticking down and swept in and heroically saved them."

Everyone just stared at the girl worriedly as she appeared to be on the verge of swooning as she gazed lovingly at her Ashikabi.

"I hate to be the one to say this… but that could actually work." Neville eventually broke the silence.

"So… we've been living in Japan all this time letting people think we are dead?" Gabe asked.

"It sounds cruel, but it is the easiest solution. We can say that Clark had MBI handle everything."

"Do we have to say that _I_ was involved?" Clark grumbled.

He and Lois had a fairly antagonistic relationship, something that the others took great joy in watching. Especially when Tsukiumi insisted that they were engaged in courting behaviour.

"You can be the one to take Lois to see Chloe." Lorna suggested. She then gave him a mocking smile. "You can hide behind little Chloe and she'll defend you."

Clark glared at her before turning to Aphrodite. "As their god, am I allowed to use the Amazons for self-protection?"

"Of course! One of the duties of the Amazons is the defence of my honour and my temples." Aphrodite confirmed.

"Right, Kyla and Lana will be my back up."

"Buck buck buuuck."

Clark just glared at the conjured hen that stalked across the large table.

* * *

The reunion between Chloe and Lois was tearful. Mainly because Lois was pounding Clark with a pillow and the three Amazons couldn't stop laughing. Eventually she relented and Kyla sat on his lap as the five of them caught up.

"So I want to hear about this Jason everyone keeps mentioning." Chloe grinned at Lana.

"Really Chloe? You want to gossip about boys? What are you fourteen?" Lois scoffed.

"Are you jealous, Lois?" Clark taunted with a smile. "Are you unhappy on your lonesome?"

"Shut up Smallville."

"Good job Tsukiumi isn't here." Kyla chuckled.

"Why? Has she started talking about boys?" Chloe asked.

"No, but someone told her that Lois calling Clark 'Smallville' was a term of endearment and affection. She thinks Lois is looking to date Clark and keeps giving her tips."

"Why don't you just stop calling him Smallville?" Chloe asked.

"She can't!" Kyla laughed. "She keeps forgetting and it's just so natural for her now."

"So… Jason?" Lois tried to change the subject.

"What are you… fourteen?" Chloe mocked. "But carry on Lana. Spill!"

"I met him in France. He asked me out and we have been sort of dating." Lana shrugged.

Chloe eyed her friend shrewdly. She abruptly turned to Kyla. "The long version?"

"He saw Lana and fell off his bike." She smirked at Lana as the former stuck out her tongue at her. "He managed to talk her into it and they have been exploring Paris together ever since."

"He fell off his bike… because he saw Lana?" Chloe asked with wide eyes. "What? Love at first sight?"

Lois scoffed. "More like lust."

"I used to trip and fall down around Lana." Clark chuckled.

"That was _not_ my fault." Lana objected.

"So you two never dated?" Lois asked them.

"We did, for a few months some time before we met Kyla." Clark nodded.

"But Clark would trip around me because I wore a necklace made of Kryptonite, he had an allergy to it. It was only because of Harry that we found out."

"An allergic reaction to meteorites?" Lois looked at him pityingly. "Pa-the-tic." She said smugly.

"Lois!" Chloe was shocked at her cousin's callousness. "Clark nearly died several times from that stuff."

Lois waved a hand dismissively.

Chloe looked at her with narrowed eyes. "So, who wants strawberries?"

Lois looked at her, betrayed. "Not cool Chloe."

"Neither were you." Chloe glared at her cousin. "How would you like it if we joked about Uncle Sam's arm?"

Lois actually had the good grace to look ashamed. "So why were they trying to kill you? _Who_ was trying to kill you?" She asked trying to move away from her mistake.

"Lionel or Lex Luthor." Chloe answered. "I have information that Lionel murdered his parents."

"We believe it was Lionel who attempted to kill you." Clark added. "Lex has distanced himself from Lionel completely."

"Then next week this should all be over." Chloe sighed in relief.

"What happens next week?" Lois asked.

"That's when the hearing begins and my evidence and testimony is entered into evidence."

"You will still be assigned a bodyguard. Uzume will be undercover." Clark said firmly. "And of course there will be _other_ operatives nearby at all times."

"Not Superman?" Chloe grinned.

"Yeah, you bastard!" Lois glared at Clark. "You never told me you know Superman."

"So does everyone else in the castle. My parents know him. They also know The Flash and The Green Lantern." Clark countered. "You already know Harry is my brother."

"Yeah, but you could at least introduce me or get me his autograph." She grumbled.

"We know the girl who has the first Superman Autograph." Lana sang.

"Yeah, lucky bitch." Kyla muttered.

"You're just jealous because you didn't think to ask first." Chloe laughed.

"I still don't get why you all want his autograph." Clark said, his confusion obvious. "You know him personally."

"Yukari was thinking long term." Lana explained. "She wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be tons of frauds claiming they had the first one."

"This way, when Yukari challenges their claims you can stand up and back her." Chloe finished.

"Why would the first autograph matter?"

"Jeeze Smallville, you live under a rock?" Lois sighed. "Imagine how much you could get for the first Michael Jackson or John Lennon autographs. It's like finding the original version of the Declaration of Independence!"

"Isn't there anyone who you admire that you want them to sign something for you?" Chloe asked.

"No. I don't get the point of getting someone's signature."

"It's so you can prove you met them, Clark." Chloe explained. "Yukari can now say that she met you in your early days."

Lois' eyes snapped to Chloe. "Why would someone want Smallville's autograph?"

Chloe panicked as she realised her slip.

"I am the head of one of the largest companies on the planet, the biggest in Japan." Clark saved the day flawlessly.

"Yeah, but you still live on a farm." Lois smirked.

* * *

Chloe was nervous as she walked into the courtroom to give her testimony. Not because she was afraid of public speaking, Luthor or a corrupt justice system, but because she was surrounded by four Sekirei. Miya, Mutsu, Kazehana and Matsu were on special assignment at the request of Harry and the Japanese government. They were dressed in their uniforms and turning heads.

That was why Chloe was nervous… the added attention.

Although, at least with Mutsu she didn't have to worry about feeling inadequate.

"I understand the need to ensure Miss Sullivan's safety, but do you really need to stand next to her in the witness chair?" The Judge asked exasperatedly.

Mutsu gave the man a small smile. "You do realise that if we are not protecting Chloe-San, then you would be considered… extra damage?"

"Collateral damage." Matsu supplied.

"Yes, collateral damage for an assassin?"

"I've been a judge for more than thirty years, I've been shot at enough times that it's become a mere nuisance."

"Guys, I'll be ok." Chloe insisted.

She instantly shrunk back at the glare from Miya. "We were requested by the Prime Minister himself. Are you suggesting you have better judgement than him?"

"No ma'am." Chloe squeaked.

Miya's head snapped to the judge. "What about you?" She challenged.

"Like Miss Sullivan, I don't believe the Prime Minister of Japan is the one we are worried about." The Judge sighed. He wasn't going to argue with an irritated woman carrying a sword. He was just glad they didn't seem to like guns.

"Very well, the prosecution may begin."

What followed was a pretty standard Q&A session regarding Chloe's knowledge and how she acquired it. None of the information she gathered was confidential and she had done things legally. The irony wasn't lost on her.

This left very little for the defence to pick at. So they chose a different route. Discrediting the witness.

"Miss Sullivan, can you prove you are who you say you are?" The attorney asked. He had that knowing smug voice that grated on people.

"I can prove it enough for my friends, my family and my government." She shrugged.

"But according to all the recent reports and these documents here… you're supposed to be dead." He said with mock horror. "I must say you look very healthy for a dead girl."

Chloe just sat there.

"Well Miss Sullivan?"

"I believe she is waiting for a question, Mr. Gathsby, much like I am." The Judge frowned.

Gathsby swallowed slightly. He had been so court up in his acting he had forgotten how to handle a witness. "Miss Sullivan, if you are supposedly dead, how can you be here testifying?"

"Probably the same way you have documents claiming you passed the bar but are actually an idiot."

The spectators in the gallery laughed as Gathsby bristled. "Objection!"

"Miss Sullivan, please try not to point out the truth about the defence." The Judge said wearily.

"Sorry your honour. I swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

The Judge looked at Gathsby and shrugged. "Overruled."

Gathsby scowled, as did Lionel who was wishing he had a better lawyer.

"Miss Sullivan, please tell the court why you committed fraud by falsifying your death."

"Objection!" The Prosecutor shouted.

"Sustained!" The Judge responded. "Gathsby, you are now on thin ice. You have no more warnings."

"Miss Sullivan, why should we believe anything you say when you couldn't even stand up and assure the courts that you weren't actually dead?"

"Your ice is cracking Gathsby." The Judge sighed. "You'll have to answer that one."

"I am seventeen years old. A minor in the United States of America, I had no say in the matter. Furthermore, when Superman saved my father and I from the explosion he took us straight to Japan without asking for my input. Or my father's."

"The defence would like to call the being known as Superman to the stand."

"Your toes are beginning to freeze. Ask a question or dismiss the witness."

"Isn't it true Miss Sullivan that you were hiding in Japan and that MBI put you up in a five-star resort?"

"Actually-"

"Yes or no, Miss Sullivan."

"Erm… no."

Gathsby went back to his table and pulled up some papers. "In your deposition you stated that you stayed at the MBI Beach Resort. Are you now saying you lied?" He challenged accusingly.

Chloe just shrugged. "No."

"I would like to ask the court recorder to read back last few lines of Miss Sullivan's testimony."

"Go ahead."

The court reporter, a middle-aged man, began to read. "Mr. Gatsby: Isn't it true Miss Sullivan that you were hiding in Japan and that MBI put you up in a five-star resort?

"Miss Sullivan: Actually-

"Mr. Gathsby: Yes or no Miss Sullivan.

"Miss Sullivan: Erm… no.

"Mr Ga-"

"That's all I need your honour." He interrupted. "Are you indecisive or lying Miss Sullivan?"

"Objection."

"Rephrase Mr. Gathsby."

"Why are you changing your story as to where you were staying… Miss Sullivan?"

"I'm not." Chloe sighed.

"Then which is it Miss Sullivan? How are we supposed to know the truth when you can't even tell the lies from the truth yourself!?" He cried triumphantly. "I have nothing further for this witness." He said dismissively.

Chloe frowned and turned to the Judge. "Sir, I was asked a question just now. Two actually. I would like to answer the questions."

"Go ahead Miss Sullivan."

"First of all, I was staying at a private _un-ranked_ beach resort. So no, I was not staying at a 'five-star' resort." She said with air-quotes. "Secondly, you can easily tell the truth when people like you stop trying to smother it in lies and half-truths."

"Thank you Miss Sullivan, you and your guards can step down now."

"I have further questions."

"Then you shouldn't have dismissed the witness. If you want her recalled then take it up with the Prosecution and submit a request to my desk. For now, this court is in recess until after lunch." The Judge banged his gavel and the court began to clear.

As Chloe and her entourage headed to the gallery they smirked at Lionel Luthor hissing angrily at his lawyer. He may not be the head of LuthorCorp any more but he still had the money to buy high priced lawyers.

They headed straight to the people in the first row. Harry and Clark were standing there with Lois and Gabe. It wouldn't have mattered as they had managed to pack the entire gallery with their family and Sekirei. The only person in any danger was Lionel Luthor.

"You did good Chlo." Clark smiled.

"Year cuz. You kicked that lawyers ass." Lois laughed.

"It was fairly simple, I just followed Xander's advice." She high-fived the Father of Death.

"I would have expected advice from you to have my daughter pulling pranks." Gabe said cautiously.

"I can be serious!" Xander argued. "I just told her to abide the exact working of her oath."

"'I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.'" Chloe nodded. "In other words, don't let them make you lie with only half an answer, refuse to answer or withdraw you answer if they try to. If the judge tries to force you to answer with the limitations then explain your position and ask for immunity from prosecution from perjury."

"Do you think they will get Chloe back up there?" Gabe asked.

"Unlikely." Amara said from his other side. "Gathsby knows it would be too dangerous to his case. He was clearly trying to punch holes in her credibility and honesty as well as provoking her into an outburst so he could bring up her age."

* * *

**A/N: That's all folks... for now!**

Yes, we have reached the last of my pre written chapters. I have nearly finished year four... when I say nearly, for me that means maybe a week or two.

As soon as I have it finished and polished I will start adding the chapters to this story on my usual daily basis.

Remember, they will be in this story so you don't have to worry about looking for a new story, if you get alerts then you will get a new one for chapter 54.

How close am I to the end?

Season Four Finale!

Which will barely resemble Smallville's season four finale.

What happens at the beginning of my Season Four?

Martian Invasion!

See ya in a bit!


	54. Chapter 54

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO REPEAT A YEAR?!"

Clark looked up and tried to run from the Talon as every customer turned to the enraged Lois Lane screaming down the phone.

Unfortunately he had Kyla on his lap and Lana and Chloe where pinning him down. He couldn't escape without dragging them along and revealing his powers.

He was seriously considering it.

"WHAT!? SMALLVILLE?!" She screeched. "WHO THE HELL ENROLLED ME IN HICKSVILLE HIGH?!"

Chloe groaned into her hands. "Ladies and gentlemen… my cousin, Lois Lane."

Lana's hand snaked out and pulled the phone away from Lois' ear.

"You just insulted an entire town in front of its townspeople. You might want to take the rest of this call outside and be quieter." She warned.

Lois paled as she noticed half the people in the Talon glaring at her.

The other half were trying not to laugh.

She quickly got up and made for the door as she put the phone back to her ear.

"MY _FATHER_?!"

"We are going to be hearing about this for weeks, aren't we?" Clark asked Chloe.

"Dad will deal with her. She's like a pussycat around him." Chloe sighed.

"She's going to be in all our classes constantly bitching." Kyla sighed.

"I thought you liked Lois." Lana asked.

"Sure, but she can go on and on."

"Don't worry, even I get fed up with her." Chloe consoled her sister Amazon.

"If she keeps making a scene like that in here we're going to have to ban her." Scott said, he was serious but couldn't help but find it slightly amusing.

"She's my friend, I have a conflict of interest so I must recues myself from the situation." Lana stated emphatically.

"Wow… forget medicine, you should go into politics." Kyla laughed.

"I'll give her a warning." Scott said as he walked off.

"I'm heading back to the farm." Clark said as he pushed a pouting Kyla off his lap. "I want to get some work done before I head to… work." He finished lamely. He couldn't exactly say he was going to travel around the world that night.

"We'll all go." Lana agreed.

As the four stood to leave one patron stood as well and followed discreetly.

They grabbed Lois who was now on hold on the phone and started walking to the bus stop that would take them to the edge of town where it was a twenty-minute walk to the Kent farm.

When the bus stopped one other person disembarked with them.

"Are we being followed?" Lana asked quietly.

"Huh?" Lois asked dumbly as she turned to look behind them.

Lana and Chloe looked at her, gobsmacked as Clark and Kyla face-palmed.

"Hey, stalker boy! Why are you following us?"

"Subtlety Lois." Kyla groaned.

"What? There's five of us and one of him." She argued.

"Give me Sullivan and the rest of you can leave." The young man who was about their age instructed. He was wearing a long dark coat.

"Nobody touches my cousin!" Lois said heatedly.

"Then you all die." The man said calmly as he began running towards them.

Clark frowned as he saw Lois take a defensive stance to intercept the attacking man. It didn't make sense for the man to be holding no weapons. The only explanation was that the man _was_ the weapon. Either an expert in martial arts or a meta-human.

Clark deftly stepped in front of Lois and gently pushed her back into the arms of Lana and Kyla.

"What the hell Smallville!"

Clark turned back to the man watched calmly as the man's arm morphed into a metallic blade like something out of the Terminator. He easily sidestepped the lunge and swung the man 360 degrees back the way he came.

"Holy shit! Ow!" Lois looked up to see Miya standing there in a short black dress with several of the other women from the castle dressed the same. Miya was holding a katana that she had used to knock Lois on the head with the hilt.

"Clark." Miya called out.

Clark turned and caught Miya's sword as the other Sekirei stepped forward with their weapons drawn and formed a defensive line between the two fighters and the girls.

"Are you insane Smallville?" Lois shouted as she watched him stand his ground against the again charging meta-human.

Clark waited until the attacker was on him and swept the blade up from bottom left to top right of the boy easily slicing the arm off.

"You bastard!" The boy shouted angrily as he backed off. As he did so the severed arm/blade melted into liquid metal and travelled back to meld with the boy.

"He's a Terminator rip-off!" Lois said slightly disgusted.

"Akitsu." Clark called out.

At first Lois thought Clark was playing at being a computer game character where they call out the names of their attacks like in Street Fighter. But then she saw one of the women in uniform with white hair step forward. She raised her hands… things began to get very cold.

Homura stepped forward and created a wall of fire just in front of them and behind Akitsu to protect them from the cold.

Clark was still fighting the boy, dodging and cutting off limbs only to see them reattach.

"Uncle, it's not working." Akitsu called out calmly.

"Harry!" Clark shouted over the cold wind.

"Where the hell are all these people coming from?" Lois asked as Harry teleported in.

She was ignored.

"Are you _trying_ to kill him?" Harry asked calmly as he stood between Clark and the boy and just let him hack away at his body. He kept healing as soon as the blade was out of his body. Arms healed so quickly they couldn't be sliced off.

"He started it." Clark deadpanned as he tossed the sword back to Miya who deftly caught and sheathed it.

"And I get to finish it." Harry nodded. Harry threw out a bolt of green magic only for it to bounce off a metallic shield the boy formed with his arms and hit Clark… who fell down dead.

Lois was treated to a full and unencumbered view of Smallville's finest as Clark's soul appeared.

"Oops." Harry said sheepishly as Clark glared at him. "I'll… err… put you back in a minute."

Harry turned back to the shape-shifting boy. Magic didn't work which meant he had to grab the boy's soul with his own.

Unfortunately he needed to be able to get a grip on him so he could extend his own soul past his body. The boy was far too slippery being able to morph out of Harry's grip.

"Chloe, Homura, I need an assist with the fire. Akitsu, grab Clark's body and get to cover."

Kyla jumped forward to help the Sekirei with her soul mate's body as Homura stepped up beside Harry.

Lois grabbed Chloe as the blonde tried to leave her side. "You can't seriously be thinking about fighting?"

Chloe just laughed. "I do this for fun, Lo."

She watched gobsmacked as Chloe pulled away before being enveloped in a burning fire despite not being harmed by it.

Of course she was nearly terrified as Harry morphed into and immense dragon and he, Homura and Chloe started to direct fire at the assassin. They were soon able to melt the boy to a puddle where Harry returned to human form and knelt down next to the puddle as Homura and Chloe kept up their fire.

Very briefly she saw an ethereal visage of the assassin, naked, before it appeared to scream and dissipate to nothing.

Chloe and Homura ceased their attack and Chloe's fire faded.

"Bloody hell that hurts worse than anything!" Harry shouted as he began jumping around and shaking the hand he'd put on the puddle.

"You went into the sun." Homura reminded him.

"Yes, but Phoenix fire is special. It's like when Clark uses his divine lightning, it _really_ hurts, if Hibiki and Hikari do it, it barely tickles."

"Oh… I'm not going to get in trouble am I?" Chloe asked worriedly.

"No, you were assisting me." Harry said as he turned and headed back to the others.

"What the hell was that?" Lois asked as she struggled to her feet with Lana's help.

"_That_… was a day in Smallville." Harry smirked.

"Harry, as much as we all like ogling my boyfriend, can you put him back in his body?" Kyla asked.

"Awww."

Lois couldn't help but chuckle at the pitiful whine from several of the girls in uniform. Smallville was definitely a nice piece of ass.

"See, they want to do more ogling." Harry argued.

"They can do more than ogle tonight. Now snap to it! You already said divine fire and lightning hurts. Do you want me to call Aphrodite so we can find out how much a divine kick to the happy sacks will hurt?" She challenged with her hands on her hips.

Harry pouted at her. "You're mean."

* * *

"I can't believe I never saw it before." Lois muttered to herself as she circled a very uncomfortable Clark Kent. "Well, I can, I mean the boys a poster child for farm boys every where." She snorted.

"At what point do we tell her my actual age?" Clark asked Kyla who was standing with Chloe, Lana and Chiho as they watched the scene in amusement. The rest were seated on couches around the common room.

"You know we don't count those." Kyla smirked. "Besides, she's not the one banging your brains ou-owW! God damn you- OW! Cut it out!"

"No swearing!" Miya waggled her ladle at Kyla.

"Is anyone else finding it very interesting that Lois has just been introduced to Magic and Death but she is completely focused on Clark?" Uzume whispered to Dani.

"I know! Aphrodite, anything you'd like to share?"

"Clark is quite… overwhelmed at the moment." She said seriously. "I would take it as a personal favour if you would not meddle and just let things progress naturally."

"Yeah, he just got married after all." Dani grinned.

"Clark is _always_ going to be overwhelmed." Jean put in. "He might as well try and get used to it."

"It's true." Lorna agreed. "If we take the extreme, Laura hasn't had a peaceful year since she was born."

"But they were enjoyable years." The woman in question assured them.

"I want to know how bad the kid is gonna get it when she finds out his sleeping arrangements." Logan grinned evilly.

"Lois, I'm sure you want to inspect me some more but I have to get to work." Clark sighed, unaware of the other's conversation.

"Work? What work?"

"It's night time here, I need to make my patrols." Clark touched his watch allowing his costume to fall into place.

"Oh… patrol… I thought you just turned up when people needed you."

Clark rolled his eyes before teleporting out.

* * *

Luthor's case was a slam-dunk for the prosecution. Lionel was sent to a maximum-security prison with no chance of parole. Lex had added fuel to the fire by providing the courts with all the details of his other misdeeds. This also bought him a lot of respect from the media and public.

The smart people saw it for what it was; making sure the blame didn't fall on him.

The first day of the new school year was a big deal for many reasons. It was the last year of high school for the girls, including Chiho who had skipped a year, it was the first day of high school ever for Uzume, and it was the first day of Lois' second try at her high school senior year. That was a source of huge embarrassment and annoyance for the feisty girl.

The big news for the school day came for Lana. She was called to the Principal's office on the first day, she was hoping Emma didn't plan to have her do more work like with the Torch.

In the office she was greeted by Emma, Scott, Terrence and-

"Jason?"

"Yes Miss Lang, Jason is here." Emma said quite seriously as she indicated for her to take a seat opposite and next to Jason. "We are all aware of your relationship with him. Coach Summers offered him a part time position as assistant football coach whilst he attends college.

"Now, due to your prior existing relationship we have no right to forbid you seeing each other. The age difference is negligible and we have ensured that he will not be in a position of authority over you."

"There are some ground rules that _must_ be followed." Vice-Principal Reynolds spoke up. "First, we have no objection to mild displays of affection, a kiss in greeting if you will. But at no time must either of you be alone with each other in the building. We would also appreciate it, but cannot compel you, to have chaperone on dates outside of school time. These rules are to protect Mr. Teague's reputation and yours and his freedoms under the law.

"You are eighteen right now but you are also a student, it's the student part that we need to worry about." Scott added.

"Are you sure he won't get into trouble for this?" Lana asked.

"We have informed the Sheriff and the staff of the situation. With your permissions we would like to inform the PTA." Emma requested. "We know you would prefer to keep your relationship private but this would help prevent people jumping to conclusions and doing something based on assumptions."

Lana looked to Jason questioningly.

"Hey, I was shocked when Coach Summers offered me the position, I may never play professionally but this is a good starting point to get into professional coaching. I want to do what I can to ensure that future but not if it makes you uncomfortable. I did just travel half way around the world to be with you." He grinned self-deprecatingly.

Lana nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Alright, as long as it keeps him out of trouble." She jabbed an errant thumb at her boyfriend.

"Hey!"

"Very well, you may return to your classes." Emma said as she handed a hall pass to the girl. "Assistant Coach Teague, Coach Summers will show you around."

* * *

"That is so unfair!" Kyla whined as they all sat outside on the walls at lunch. "I hardly get any time with my boyfriend and you can see him all day."

"Kyla, we will be in class most of the day. This is nothing like when Clark was still a student here."

"Why isn't Smallville in school? He's younger than some of you." Lois asked.

"He dropped out so he could help run the company." Phoebe answered.

"And dedicate more time to his other persona." Mindee added.

"And spend more time with his girls." Celeste finished with a cheeky grin.

Lois was still trying to get used to the Triplets. She was still trying to get used to everything. It was bad enough when she woke up in the morning and Uncle Gabe and Chloe were making breakfast by levitation, conjuration and all manner of magical arts but then she had to deal with the fact that she was living just down the road from Death and Superman.

Having seen Clark in action, and as he had revealed his secret, it was easy to believe the unassuming farm boy was the man in red and blue. But she could not look at Harry and see Death. Sure, she saw him kill a man, but she was an army brat, she'd seen men with impressive body counts.

She still refused to believe that both Harry and Clark slept with multiple women at night.

She now had a bit more understanding of what Tsukiumi kept going on about though.

"I'm hoping Clark will let me join his harem." Uzume said wistfully. "Of course I'd much rather Chiho joined as well."

The rather open discussions of sex and harems was also hard for Lois to deal with.

"I love Clark, Uzume, but I'm not looking for a relationship." Chiho assured her Sekirei. "But if you want to be with Clark then you should speak to him."

"And Tsukiumi." Chloe laughed. "She definitely likes to think of herself as the head of the harem. Not in a way that replaces you or Aphrodite." She told Kyla. "But she wants to keep an eye on who might join you."

"What do you think will happen tonight?" Lana asked, suddenly subdued and changing the subject.

Tonight the American missiles would finally impact Mars. The world would be waiting with baited breath to see what would happen.

Sanctions against the US were high and they had been suspended from the UN Security Council and the UN itself pending a change in government.

Of course the American government didn't respond to threats and refused to admit they were wrong.

"America will have to explain to the world why it committed not only and act of war but also an act of genocide." Phoebe shrugged.

"And then we will have to clean up the mess." Mindee grumbled.

"Which really cuts into our Clark and Harry time." Celeste scowled.

"Are you sure the aliens will attack?" Chiho asked worriedly.

"Fairly sure." Phoebe nodded as Uzume hugged her Ashikabi. "Harry says they are not nice people. The Guardians say they haven't had contact with Mars in a long time but that the people were peaceful."

"Then why would they attack?" Uzume asked.

"Because they were wiped out by an invading force, one the American government is about to wake up." Lois sighed as she followed the logic. "How long do you think it will take the aliens to reach us?"

"It took the Amaterasu less than a day to get from the moon to Mars." Lana offered.

"That ship was made using fairly primitive technology compared to what is available in the time we came from now and from what Kilowog saw." Chloe added.

"You've met Kilowog?" Lois asked in amazement, the alien Green Lantern was a hot topic in the world. There was finally an alien that looked… alien.

"I was at the launching of the Amaterasu, we all were." Chloe smiled. "We were also there when it landed."

"It is going to be a long night tonight." Kyla sighed. "Clark, Amara and Diana are going to be in Tokyo with Harry and the Prime Minister to prepare a response."

"Somebody pick a new topic… _please_!" Lois groaned.

"Did you guys see Abby Fine?" Chloe asked clearly picking a topic of interest. "She must have had a hell of a lot of surgery."

"It's such a shame, if she had gone to Harry he could have cleared her skin easily." Celeste sighed. "_We_ could have done it."

"She had more than her skin done." Chloe pointed out. "She had her breasts, teeth, butt… she may as well have built herself a new body."

"If that's what she needs to be comfortable with herself then more power to her." Lois shrugged.

"We're not saying we disapprove of making changes, just the methods and reasoning behind it. She was severely bullied because of her acne, they called her 'Scabby Abby'." Chloe said in disgust.

"Besides, Emma had a lot of work done when she was young." Mindee added. "Of course Harry upgraded her breasts as soon as he met her."

"I still say he just wanted to feel her up." Celeste giggled.

"What did he do?" Uzume asked with a salacious grin.

"He had literally arrived in our world ten minutes before hand and as soon as he saw Emma he could tell she had implants." Celeste told the story. "He walks up to her and berates her for it whilst she tells him off for staring-"

"She was wearing her costume at the time." Mindee added for context.

"He puts a hand on her breasts and vanishes the implants and makes the breasts enlarge naturally."

"Whenever we need a pick me up we pull one of Harry's memories for amusement." Phoebe laughed.

Kyla just shrugged. "I'd tap that ass."

They all just looked at her in disbelief.

"What? I spend every night with the likes of Matsu, Yume, Kazehana and Musubi… even Tsukiumi joins in now and again if Clark isn't home yet."

"_They_ don't go around objectifying women." Chloe pointed at the Cuckoos.

"Chloe… they've been hitting on me since we first met." Lana pointed at the Cuckoos slightly annoyed her friend had forgotten.

"Oh. My. God!" Chloe groaned. "I'm doomed to be the lonely single friend! The constant third wheel!" She wailed as she fell back on to the grass.

"Don't be so dramatic." Kyla admonished lightly. "We're still young. Find lots of boys and play with their wild oats."

There was a moment's silence.

"Yeah, that really doesn't work does it." Kyla grimaced. The others shook their heads with similar looks. "I guess there isn't a way to say to girls its ok to have lots of flings without making them seem like sluts."

Kyla was saved from the awkward moment when one of the football players came screaming out of the building.

He drew the attention of everyone as he didn't stop but kept running out into traffic.

There was a flash, and then an eruption of white material exploded out of the air and wrapped the footballer up, lifting him into the air and out of the path of the cars.

The school was mesmerized, despite the continuing screams of the boy. Suspended in the air by numerous white scarves like a spider in its web was a woman, she had dark hair and her eyes were concealed by one of the scarves lying loosely on her head like a veil.

"How the hell did Uzume move so fast?" Kyla asked in amazement.

"I teleported her into the air and she did the rest." Chiho said with a proud smile.

Lana turned to Chiho with a look of curiosity. "But I didn't hear you warn or instruct her."

"She is my Sekirei and I am her Ashikabi. We know each other's minds." She said simply.

"Chiho, Clark doesn't have a connection like that with his Sekirei and neither does Harry or Logan." Phoebe said clearly in awe.

"Has anyone called Harry yet?" Chloe asked.

The girls shared a look that pretty much said… oops.

It was lucky that it was second nature for Harry to always teleport and arrive invisibly. The sudden, and almost panicked cry from the girls had him appearing in the middle of them. He got a good look at the situation before teleporting back inside and then running out to keep up appearances.

He ran straight over to Uzume who was calmly floating in the air, suspended by her veils.

"Bring him down here." He instructed as Dani followed behind with Harry's emergency medical bag. "Thank you Number 10."

"_Of course, Harry Sama."_ She said in Japanese.

"_Superman is on his way."_

A bolt of lightning flashed in the sky accompanied by a clap of thunder, everyone flinched and looked up. Floating down towards them with his hammer out was Superman.

"Number 10, excellent work." Superman said approvingly and clear enough for all to hear.

"Thank you Superman-Sama." She said with a deep bow.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"The boy, he ran screaming from the school. He ran out into traffic and I caught him." She said.

"Was he screaming anything in particular or just… making noise?"

"Just noise. He seemed terrified."

"I've got the paramedics en route." Dani informed them. "As well as the Sheriff." She waggled her eyes at Superman.

"I trust you have everything well in hand, Dr. Potter?" He asked with a hint of urgency.

"You know that the Sheriff is going to want to get a statement." Harry grinned.

"I hate you, you bastard." Superman grumbled quietly.

Within minutes the Sheriff and ambulance arrived.

"You're a new one." Sheriff Adams commented as she took in Number 10.

"I am Number 10." She bowed.

The Sheriff looked at Harry and Superman curiously. "Is she a fan of that new Battlestar Galactica or something?"

Number 10 looked confused as Harry and Superman laughed.

"Number 10 is sort of a code name. It is an informal rank and identification or code name as well." Superman explained.

"Alright… don't you get cold in that get up honey?" She asked as she took in the thin veils that covered very little.

"My Ashi-"

"Number 10." Superman interrupted quickly. "We don't speak of them."

Number 10 turned and bowed low. "Forgive me Master, I spoke without thinking." She said clearly upset at her mis-speak.

"Relax, just try to remember yourself in the future." He told her. "You can return now. I will handle the reports with the Sheriff."

"I still need her statement." Adams pointed out.

"I will deliver it myself… perhaps not tonight though." He said pointedly.

Everyone in earshot shuddered or grimaced as they were reminded of the impending possibility of doom that would be revealed tonight on Mars.

"As soon as possible." Adams nodded. She turned to Number 10. "You can go Miss- erm… Number 10?"

Number 10 gave her a smile even though her eyes were still hidden before she vanished into thin air thanks to Superman surreptitiously using his magic to send her away.

Like Batman he avoided using his magic as Superman. He relied on his natural powers and divinity. He had considered hiding his godhood as well but decided that he could bring honour to Odin and Asgard as Superman.

Sheriff Adams moved in closer to the two men so they wouldn't be over heard. Harry threw up some privacy charms as well.

"Either of you two gentlemen know who might have done this?"

"I was in Tokyo." Superman shrugged.

"Lois Lane and Abigail Fine are the two newest factors in the school." Harry mused as he rubbed his chin. "The triplets tell me that they've been with Lois all day and she hasn't been near Bret, that's the name of the screamer, Bret Anderson." Harry added as he pointed at the still screaming yet restrained boy. "She also hasn't displayed any abilities that would cause this and she's been spending quite a bit of time with us."

"She also knows that the triplets are telepaths and Harry is Death." Superman added.

"I'll have the girls try and feel out Abigail." Harry said. "I'll also ask Brunhilde to try and run down what she was up to over the break."

"Ok, now what about this new girl, 'Number 10'? What's the deal there?"

"That's Uzume, one of the Sekirei. Chiho is her Ashikabi and after the incident with the Joker she begged to be allowed to stay with Chiho." Harry explained.

All of the Sekirei identities were protected via the same Fidelius that protected Superman and Batman's identities. But those protections never really applied to Harry so he could easily inform the Sheriff. She had been briefed on the Sekirei when they had come over anyway.

"She's officially acting as Chloe's protection detail in response to the Luthor case." Superman Added. "She's on official detachment from the Japanese Embassy."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" The Sheriff glared at the Superhero.

"It didn't seem all that relevant. Chloe doesn't need protecting and Uzume lives here anyway."

"It becomes mighty relevant if federal agencies start sniffing around."

"They won't know about Uzume. She is protected in all manner of ways." Superman assured her. "Even if someone did discover her assignment they would only see her code name, Number 10. They'd never be able to connect her with Uzume."

"Just try and keep me in the loop please." She said tiredly. "Keep me informed of what you discover about… Mr. Anderson and Miss Fine.

"This is the last thing we needed with tonight's events."

* * *

"Lois! This is the _boy's_ locker room." Chloe hissed as she tried to stop her cousin from walking into forbidden territory.

"You wanted a lead and this is the best place to look." Lois argued. "Bret was seen running from here, besides you know what they say about locker room talk."

"Yes, but I don't want to become the _subject_ of locker room talk."

"Ha! You already are." She scoffed.

Lois pushed hard on the door and marched into the room leaving an annoyed Chloe outside.

The entire football team was present and in various states of undress.

"GIRL IN THE ROOM!" Someone shouted.

There was instant silence; only the sound of towels being hastily placed was heard.

"Relax boys, I'm just here for information." Lois said dismissively.

"Lane! Get out of here!"

There was a collective sigh of relief from the half naked team as Coach Summers stormed out of his office. He grabbed Lois by the shoulders and pushed her out of the room letting the door swing shut behind them.

"What the hell are you playing at Lois?" Scott demanded.

"I was looking for answers about Bret." She shrugged unconcerned.

"There are rules Lois." Scott said heatedly. "You respect a person. If you can't respect someone then how are we supposed to respect you?"

"It's just a little flesh. Nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Fine, then how about you grab a bikini and walk around the school?" Scott challenged.

"I don't get what you're so up tight about. Bret almost died and you're worried about one girl seeing some boys in their skivvies?"

"That room is theirs. They are supposed to feel safe and comfortable in that room. You have destroyed that now. You have a week's detention starting tonight. Now get out of here." Scott turned around and banged into the locker room.

"Nice work Lois." Chloe said sarcastically. "You managed to piss off one of the most easy going people here. Can't wait to see what you'll do to Harry."

* * *

At the end of the day, just before Lois was off for detention, the girls were all assembled in the Torch.

"Look at that." Chloe said sarcastically. "A man was able to get evidence from the boy's locker room without a woman having to scar them for life."

"Bunch of pansies." Lois muttered.

Scott had informed them that Abigail's necklace and Brett's jersey were found together in the locker room showers.

He had also told them that some of the boys had last seen Brett with Abigail.

"Fine, so I damaged the egos of the big men." Lois grumbled. "Let's go and get this girl and make her squeal."

"'Squeal'?" Lana asked with a raised eyebrow. "She could be a victim here."

"She did seem upset when I saw her before class and she left in the middle." Chiho offered.

"Well it's up to Chloe, Kyla and you now." Lana told Chiho. "Lois has detention and the triplets and I have cheerleading practice. Uzume, you should try out."

"Me? A cheerleader?" She giggled. "Isn't that more Ku and Musubi's thing?"

"You've got the moves and you'd enjoy it." Mindee agreed with Lana.

"What about Chiho?"

"We will stay by her side constantly." Chloe promised.

"Go on Uzume. Have fun." Chiho smiled encouragingly.

"How about if I see if Miya can spare one of Clark's Sekirei?" Kyla offered.

Uzume sighed. "Ok."

* * *

Turning heads was something that Kyla, Chloe and even Chiho was used to. They were beautiful young women and they knew it. Kyla was very protective of the young Japanese girl, almost as much as Uzume; she would glare at any boy who stared at her friend.

They were receiving many more stares due to their extra companion.

Kazehana was dressed in her favourite short purple dress that showed acres of bare legs, arms and chest.

And there was an abundance of chest.

"I told you not to wear that dress out of the castle." Kyla hissed.

"I feel comfortable like this. I prefer to feel the wind on my skin." She responded calmly as they walked across the football pitch.

"Kazehana, that dress is attracting a _lot_ of attention, we are trying to remain inconspicuous." Chloe pointed out.

She just laughed. "We are four beautiful women, dear. We could be dressed in trash bags and people would look."

They eventually reached the maintenance entrance under the bleachers where the Cuckoos had said they could find Abigail Fine.

"Abigail? Are you in here?" Chloe called out.

"Stay away!" Came the plaintive cry.

"We just want to talk. Maybe we can help you." Chiho said as she moved in.

"Help me?"

"We know you had something to do with Brett." Kyla said, her voice much firmer and sterner than the others. "We don't want to jump to conclusions so we want to hear your side. Maybe we can help you if you need it."

"How can anyone help me?" Came the tearful sob.

"My father is one of the world's most foremost doctors. He has strong connections with the major companies of the world such as MBI and Wayne Industries." Kazehana said as she calmly walked into the dark room. "And if that isn't enough he is friends with Superman, the Green Lantern, Batman and the Flash.

"I doubt there is anything wrong that one of them cannot fix."

Chiho created a small ball of light with her magic and floated it up to the ceiling. "And then there's magic." She said with a smile at the astonished young woman with the tear-streaked face.

* * *

"Father, we have a patient for you."

Harry looked up from the clipboard he was signing to see Kazehana, Chiho, Chloe and Kyla leading a very nervous Abigail Fine into the reception of the Smallville Medical Centre.

"Sweetheart, we've talked about titles before, and using them in public." Harry sighed.

"You are my father and I am proud to be your daughter. I shall not hide from these facts." Kazehana glared at him.

"This has nothing to do with pride." He poked her tummy making her giggle. "This is you trying to make trouble for me so you can watch me squirm."

"Keep it up girl. Watching the Doc squirm makes it worthwhile sitting here." And elderly man chuckled from the waiting area.

"Watch it Norm. You better hope you don't have any reason for me to use my instruments. I _won't_ be warming them up!"

"Judging by the number of lovelies you have there I'm thinking I'll be seeing a different doc today." The old man laughed.

"Pack it in Harry. You have work to do." Came a deep amused voice as a hand clapped him on the shoulder.

"Nev? You come to deal with the girls?" Harry asked his tall, muscled friend.

"No, I'm here to take your shift. Kyla informed Jean you might be needed and Jean sent me."

"Are you even registered?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes. "Do you even remember how to practice medicine?" He asked quieter.

"Harry, whilst you were stuck in solitude I had my own missions to do for the council. I have plenty of experience. More than you probably." Neville responded with the same quiet tones.

"Fine. Girls, let's find us an exam room." Harry shrugged.

"Norman Keller, you're up." Neville grinned at the elderly man.

It didn't take long to find an empty room. All the girls entered the room with Harry.

"Before we get started I have to ask. Abigail, do you want all of them in here for this? They won't mind waiting outside, this isn't the first time they've escorted someone here."

"I-It's ok." She said nervously.

Harry just smiled. "Alright, tell me what happened with you and Brett." He instructed as he pulled a stool up and sat opposite the girl sitting on the bed.

"We were… kissing and then he started screaming."

Saying something was missing from her story was obviously an understatement.

"You're going to have to back it up a bit there, Abby." Harry said apologetically. "I need you tell me not only what happened when you first saw Brett until he ran screaming but also as much of what was said as well as your feelings."

Abigail's eyes widened in worry.

"Let me explain why." Harry said as he rubbed his hands together. "You've seen that these girls can do real magic, right?" He asked as he conjured a simple blue bell flame in his hands. "Where I'm from babies are born with magic. They don't really have any idea about the world around them, they run on a simple set of needs and wants.

"When a magical baby wants food the cupboards will open and food that it saw mummy and daddy put in there will come flying out. The same with toys. It all comes down to emotion.

"Now, take Kazehana there. She has a non-magical power. She can manipulate the wind."

Kazehana created a small tornado in the palm of her hands.

"But like any magical or person with a power, her emotions can affect her power.

"Another example would be Superman. He needed a lot of practice to deal with his powers, there were some fairly dodgy moments, let me tell you!" He chuckled. "Most people come into their powers at birth or during puberty. Just like you.

"What I can tell you is that you are severely infected with Kryptonite poisoning. It his highly toxic stuff and can have a myriad of side effects including giving people certain powers.

"You are a good person Abigail, I can see that. I know that what ever happened wasn't by your choice, but I need to know what _did_ occur so I can figure it all out and possibly reverse it."

Abigail nodded slowly. She wasn't going to argue about magic with a man who not only had blue fire sitting in his hands and not burning him but also was on a first name basis with every superhero.

"I kissed him, then I wanted to stop, but then he started screaming." She said. Abigail was very scared and didn't know what to think of this.

"Ok Abigail. I still need more. There is something I can do if you'll let me." Harry said as he shuffled slightly closer. "If you focus on the memory and let me look into your eyes then I can see what you saw and feel your emotions. Can you let me do that?"

Now she looked very worried.

Harry just smiled. "Don't worry, I won't go looking for anything else, I'll just be watching that."

Abigail really didn't want to do this, but she really wanted to be able to kiss someone with out driving them insane.

At least not that type of insane.

She gave a hesitant nod.

"Just look into my eyes." Harry instructed.

Harry sank into her memories, this wasn't legillemancy where a person observed another' memories. For all intents and purposes he _was_ Abigail Fine. He could feel every footstep, he could feel the swish of the hem of her summer dress on her thighs, he could feel her elation as she felt the admiring eyes of the boys on her.

Then came the part he really didn't want to experience.

Feminine arousal.

Harry was a man. He like being a man. He had no desire to experience being a woman.

Although he took great pleasure in enjoying being with a woman.

Finally he felt the fear… the terror as Abigail watched Brett fall apart mentally.

He gently pushed himself out of the memories.

That's when Abigail screamed.

"What? What happened?" Harry asked worriedly.

He realised his voice had changed. He looked down and saw he had a pair of breasts and the other girls were giggling.

"Damn it!" He swore as he realised he had morphed into Abigail's form. He took a breath and let his true form come back.

"I'm sorry Abigail, it's been a long time since I did that and I forgot that can happen."

"You- you're not going to kill me and replace me?" Abigail asked worriedly.

Harry waved a dismissive hand. "I much prefer being a man."

"You looked exactly like me!" She squeaked.

Harry chuckled and began morphing into various other males like Clark and Vice-Principal Reynolds. "It's just another one of the quirks of being me." He said as he slipped back into his own form. "Now, open up and say 'ah'."

Abigail did as she was told.

"Hmm." Harry mused. "Some sort of gland has developed and is mixing a hallucinogenic with your saliva."

"A mutation?" She asked.

"Yep, you're a meta-human." Harry nodded. "Now, this isn't life threatening-"

"But Brett-"

"Will be just fine once it works its way out of his system. My concern is you. This toxin isn't effective on you but it will prevent you from enjoying life, especially as every time you sneeze or cough you could send someone into hysterics!"

"How did this happen? Is this something my Mom did to me?"

"We did some digging on you once we discovered you were involved." Kyla spoke up. "There are a lot of unusual deliveries and payments to her clinic."

"Elise Fine runs a plastic surgery business and did Abigail's work." Chloe explained for Harry.

"Yeah, I can see it. Especially those implants." He looked at her chest in disgust.

Abigail blushed.

"Ignore Harry." Kyla sighed. "He hates it when people put foreign objects in their bodies."

"Which is very hypocritical considering the number of times he has things inserted into him." Chloe smirked

"Like what?" Harry asked defensively.

"Bullets."

"Knives."

"Fists."

"Stakes."

"Rocks."

"Swords."

"Ok ok, I get it." Harry interrupted the girls listing things off. "It doesn't matter because I removed the implants." He said irritably as he dumped two lumps into dish on the instruments table.

Abigail immediately looked down at her chest. Nothing seemed different so she looked at him suspiciously.

"I removed them and filled the space with natural tissue." Harry explained. "No risk of leakage and no need for regular checkups."

"But… what will I tell my mom?" She asked.

"Nothing." Kyla said with quiet authority. "I'm sorry, but your mother is probably dealing with illegal materials that will see her locked away for a long time."

"I don't understand."

"Kryptonite." Chiho answered. "You are infected with Kryptonite?" She looked to Harry for confirmation.

"A fair amount of it too." Harry nodded. "Your exposure is far from natural, so that combined with the girl's findings about your mother's underhanded dealings means she likely dosed you with Kryptonite."

"Am I going to die?" She asked as she went pale.

"My dear, I am Death. I decide when people die and you have a long life ahead of you. We just need to sort out your Kryptonite infection."

"Death?!"

"They didn't mention that?" Harry asked sheepishly as he looked at the girls who were rolling their eyes.

"Harry!" Kyla gasped as she and Kazehana suddenly looked very worried. "Something is wrong, Clark… something is wrong with Clark."

* * *

**A/N:**

So there you have it, the start of Year Four. The bad news is there are only twelve chapters and I am just about to start Year Five. So there will be a longer wait for that Year. But for the next twelve days you get a chapter of between 4,000 to 9,000 words each day.

Of course it also depends on whether I watch the last Batman film, The Man of Steel or played even play the next Batman Arkham game whilst writing. I haven't seen either film yet.

Either way it will take me a while to get the next year out.

Enjoy for now.


	55. Chapter 55

Superman was speeding through the air as fast as he possibly could. He had been helping Batman investigate a Wayne Industries Astronomical Research Station in the Nevada dessert where they came across white bipedal aliens disguised as scientists.

The pair had easily dispatched them but Superman was brought to his knees as something played with his mind.

The next thing Batman saw was Superman shooting into the sky like… well he couldn't really say a 'bat out of hell' as Batman himself tended to walk _into _hell.

More like The Flash after coffee… just with more direction and purpose.

He called in his Batwing and made chase. He hoped he didn't have to go far; the further he had to go the less chance he would arrive before Superman had done something. The Batwing just wasn't that fast.

Fortunately Superman hadn't gone too far.

Still in the Nevada desert.

Area 51.

He was tearing his way through reinforced metal doors and sending magical stunners at soldiers. Batman knew that Superman had the same policy on magic as he did. It wasn't something Batman and Superman could do. It was a trait of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne.

The last thing Earth needed was for its second most powerful hero to suddenly go off the reservation like this.

"Superman, I assume you have a good explanation for this?" Batman asked as he stepped over the unconscious soldiers to where the Man of Steel was attempting to rip open a… steel door.

Superman didn't respond. Batman had already alerted Brunhilde, she would alert the others.

As the door was removed and carelessly tossed aside Batman saw Superman's goal. A green skinned alien.

Superman marched up to the alien who was restrained by his arms and legs in an upright and spread-eagled position.

He began pulling the restraints apart.

"Friend of yours?" Batman asked tersely.

"He was calling out to me telepathically, partially trying to control me." Superman said unhappily. "The Army was experimenting on him. You know how I feel about that sort of thing."

"Next time tell me what's going on." Batman groused.

"I was too busy trying to stop him from taking control." Superman turned to the green being. "Don't ever do that again or someone will kill you." He warned.

Batman addressed the tall green alien who hadn't backed down from Superman's glare. "Who are you?"

"I am J'onn J'onzz, a Martian… the last Martian." He corrected in a deep sad voice. "Many millennia ago my people flourished until the invaders came and wiped them all out. They have remained dormant until now, but several probes reached the surface of Mars and awoke me. Now they are coming here, their advanced scouts are already present."

"Our probes never touched the surface." A female voice spoke.

J'onn visibly jumped at the new voice.

Standing nearby were Wonder Woman and Harry.

"No, not those probes, the Mars Rover and Beagle I believe they were called. I have been a prisoner here for many years." He said apologetically, taking the teleporting individuals in stride.

"Then why did you only contact me now?" Superman asked.

"I only just heard you existed, I heard the scientists talking about you and I realised you were my only hope."

Superman quickly rounded on Harry. "One word out of you and-"

***snap**hiss***

Superman's shoulders slumped and he slowly turned around to see Batman holding a yellow lightsabre. "Really?"

"This way I don't get compared to a droid." Batman shrugged.

Superman turned back to Harry. "You are a _bad_ influence on people."

"Me?" Harry placed a hand over his heart in mock shock.

"Excuse me." J'onn interrupted politely. "But who are you?" He asked Harry and Diana.

"Right, J'onn J'onzz, meet Wonder Woman, Batman and Death." Superman made the introductions. "They are the Earth's foremost protectors of the innocent. Death is… literally the embodiment of Death."

"Anyone can kill." J'onn frowned.

"He is Death, as in if he was in this universe when Mars was attacked he would have stopped all your people dying."

"I would assume that Death would be everywhere, capable of overseeing-"

"Yeah, I'm the gateway between this world and the next." Harry said dismissively. "I don't bother with all the people who are dying right at this moment. I just bother with mass deaths and those who try to cheat death. Of course your people are all on the other side and quite content."

A mist began to form next to Harry as a tall feminine version of J'onn with a child like version in her hands appeared accompanied by a short young blonde haired girl.

"Your mate and son, I believe." Harry indicated the ethereal forms. "You only have a few minutes."

Harry walked over to Batman with Superman and Wonder Woman. "I'd like you to meet Luna Lovegood, my sister and first soul mate." He said happily. "Luna, I'm sure you know these people."

"Of course! But do things properly." She admonished.

"Fine." He sighed. "This is Bruce Wayne, Princess Diana and Clark Kent. Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman respectively."

"The prince married his princess!" Luna said giddily. "Do you like being a princess? Does your daddy let you ride ponies and search for strange creatures?"

"We are not married yet… and I do not have a father." Diana was slightly unsure about the young girl. She was very… forward.

"I thought you were married to Harry? That makes my Daddy your Daddy. Harry, call Daddy here now!" Luna ordered sternly.

"Luna! Sweetie!" Xander cried as he walked up to his disembodied adopted daughter.

"Don't you give me that you- you- you _lax daddy_ you!" She screeched.

"Whoa, back it up there, what did I miss?" Xander raised his hands placatingly.

"_You_ have not been exercising your daddy-daughter time!" She accused. "Diana has never had a daddy and she needs to experience daddy-daughter time."

"Sweetie, I have a whole island full of granddaughters, not to mention my various daughter-in-laws from these two." He pointed at Harry and Superman. "We're also a bit busy right now with a planetary threat, could you come back later and yell at me?" He asked hopefully.

"Fine! But we will be having words Daddy. Come M'rala, J'son, our daddies have work to do." She said haughtily as she called out to J'onn's family who were actually staring at the scene Luna was creating.

Once they were gone J'onn just stared at them, unable to figure out what had happened.

"We should get back to the castle." Harry said seriously. "The missiles are about to hit Mars."

J'onn jumped as the scenery changed to the inside of a large stone room with glass windows and large round table that took up most of the room and had quite a few people seated at it.

"J'onn, take a seat." Harry instructed. 'Everybody, this is J'onn J'onzz, the last Martian, J'onn, you'll get everyone's names later."

"Wait, if he's the last Martian then what's on Mars now?" Dani asked.

"Whatever killed the rest of the Martians." Logan muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"We're about to find out." Helen said impatiently.

J'onn was impressed as the dark-haired woman turned and waved a hand at the back of the Great Hall causing an image to appear. There were several different signals being shown. There were quite a few news channels and in the middle was a larger view straight from the Amaterasu.

The ship had jumped ahead of the missiles by a few hours and taken up a stationary position just outside orbit of the red planet so that it could track the incoming missiles.

The volume was off on the news channels.

"Captain, do you have the missiles on your scopes?" Diana called out.

"_Confirmed Commander."_ Came a radio response. _"Estimated time to impact is 60 seconds."_

"I seem them. Top left of the screen." Laura said quietly.

"Captain, drop your communications satellite and clear the area. You are ordered to head for Oa. The Guardians are expecting you." Diana ordered.

The response was respectful, but the reluctance was clear. _"Understood. Dropping satellite and setting course. Amaterasu out."_

"There it goes." Brunhilde said as she took in a breath.

They watched the two missiles enter the atmosphere at incredible speeds and impact the surface of Mars. Red dust and debris exploded in a mushroom cloud that immediately covered a majority of the planets visible surface before spreading to envelop the planet as a whole.

"How long before we see any activity?" Kyla asked nervously.

"The satellite sensors are picking up increased heat signatures that don't match the nuclear detonations." Laura reported as she consulted the laptop in front of her. Although calling it a laptop was like calling a cave wall drawing a high-definition plasma screen. It was thousands of years more advanced than even the Amaterasu.

"Harry, why don't you take a closer look?" Xander suggested.

Harry nodded. "Clark, suit up."

* * *

"It's very red." Harry remarked in his usual cheeky manner.

Superman just ignored him, they had appeared in orbit of the planet and Harry had performed a line of sight teleport to the surface… well, more like a calculated distance jump as the surface was obscured by red dust clouds and storms.

"It's hot. I landed on Mars in your home universe. It wasn't this hot. Is it just the radiation or something else?"

"Radiation." Harry confirmed.

Superman wasn't sure what Xander had expected Harry to see. There was so much dust in the air that visibility was down to nothing. He could only see as far as the bubblehead charm he had erected. The only reason he knew where Harry was was because of his connection to him… and then he realised that was why Xander had sent Harry here. So he could observe the souls.

Superman's own connection to Death gave him the ability to sense souls as well. He couldn't see them, but he could tell where they were and whether they were good or bad.

The mass of souls beneath his feet where not of the good, as he had heard Xander put it.

"I can feel a lot of moving souls beneath us."

"Yeah, from what I can see they are preparing."

"Can you do anything about the dust? All we can monitor are souls, I'd like to evaluate the damage to the surface, I'm surprised the missiles didn't blow off a chunk of the planet."

"Clark… can't you tell? We aren't actually standing on the planet." Harry muttered. "We're moving up."

Superman tilted his head and closed his eyes.

Harry was right, the ground was moving; they were fighting gravity.

"The invasion is about to begin." Harry said ominously.

"Let's get back. The Alliance needs to say something to the planet." Superman suggested.

The scenery changed for them and they were suddenly standing back in the Great Hall.

"Oh my god!" Chloe gasped.

Most of the others were shocked as they looked at the pair.

Harry's clothing was burnt and singed, as was his skin. His hair was also missing.

Despite his quick healing it was still visible for up to a minute.

"God Harry, you didn't decontaminate." Jean snapped as she marched up.

Both he and Clark were covered in red dust from the planet. Clark suddenly realised it was now red _radioactive_ dust.

Jean waved her hand at the pair and they were clean. Harry repaired his clothing as the last of the legions on his skin vanished.

"So… Mars needs some work?" Xander asked dryly.

Harry just pointed to the large screen showing the signal from the satellite. "Wait for it."

Within seconds a huge white object was seen rising up from the surface of the planet and out of the red dust cloud.

It was easily the size of an island.

And there was more than one.

"J'onn, do you know how long it will take them to travel from Mars to Earth?" Harry asked.

"Maybe a day at best. You should evacuate your people from the cities; that is where they will strike. Our only effective weapon was a gas, but the last of it is gone." The green alien answered. "I tried to warn the humans holding me but they were more interested in their experiments." He said with a shudder.

"Jean, take J'onn, give him a full physical." Harry instructed.

"I may need to call in help through the door."

"Whoever you need. But I don't want anyone coming through that door to help the Earth in battle. No other gods either. Clark, Aphrodite and Miya, travel to the leaders of the pantheons and spread the word. Earth must handle this battle alone."

"If you have allies then the people of Earth should call on them." J'onn urged. "My people were enslaved and slaughtered and we were far more advanced by Earth's standards."

"Relax big guy, we got this." Dani said as she blew on her knuckles and dusted them on her chest with mock bravado.

"I beg you, do not underestimate them."

"J'onn, on his own, Superman could destroy this planet in a day." Batman said quietly in the gravelly voice he used to disguise his identity. "Harry could do it in less, the combined intellect of the people in this room could also do it."

"My people had the same thoughts… our hubris doomed us all."

"J'onn, I promise you that if we can't handle this we will call in every ally we have… and we have a _lot_ of allies." Harry said with a reassuring smile. "Now, Amara, you and Diana need to work with Japan. Confront the international media and challenge America. Once this is over America needs to deal with its government to make sure this crap never happens again. The United Nations need to get their act together as well."

Amara nodded and she and Diana vanished, surprising J'onn again. But he was more concerned with something else.

"You are wasting time on political bickering?" He asked in horrified disbelief.

"If we don't then America or another country will do the same thing again. And I really don't want to have to do this more than once." Xander groaned.

"Isn't this your first alien invasion?" Logan asked pointedly.

"Second… technically."

"I don't remember one." Lorna said thoughtfully.

"About a year ago we were invaded by Japanese raised aliens. Life was never the same." Xander said with mock severity.

He was hit in the face with a white veil that quickly vanished.

Uzume just sat there innocently.

* * *

In a secret base hidden on the outskirts of Metropolis a bald man and a one-armed man were also discussing the impending invasion.

"This is the perfect opportunity to gather more information on these freaks _and_ possibly capture one of them." Lex said passionately.

"America and the entire planet are in mortal peril." General Lane admonished. "Now is not the time to be wasting resources on anything other than repelling the attackers."

"On the contrary, we don't need to 'waste' resources. We can assign our people to the very worst and most dangerous areas." Lex said with a sinister smile. "When Superman or his ilk find our people… 'overpowered', they will step in. We learn what we can and, hopefully they will be suitably weakened so that we can capture one of them."

"That's assuming these aliens are even a challenge for Superman."

"General, they survived two of America's most powerful weapons, I'm sure they would give the entire Green Lantern Corp pause."

* * *

"I want to know how America intends to protect the world." The Japanese Prime Minister demanded as he stood before the UN. "They have started a war without consulting the rest of the world and now we will suffer because of their foolishness. They should be defending us and ensuring we do not suffer for their… stupidity!"

"America did what was necessary." The American President responded stiffly. "We struck before they could. They would have attacked us eventually, we have just moved the time table up."

"Really?" The German Chancellor sneered. "Then I assume America knows how to defeat them. You wouldn't have done something so irresponsible as to poke the beehive without having protection, would you?"

"Of course not! We are quite capable of taking on these invaders."

"Ahem, they weren't invaders until _you_ attacked them." The British Prime Minister said pointedly. The usually strong relationship between Britain and America had become seriously frayed. "But, putting that aside for the moment, could you explain why you didn't just destroy them if you had the capabilities? Why just… as the my German counterpart put it: poke the beehive?"

"We had our reasons, they are classified."

"Bullshit!" The Canadian Prime Minister swore angrily. "You have doomed the entire planet. If you have reasons then you will share them along with anything else you know."

"The United States does not respond to threats." The President glared.

"The United States should be aware that unless it changes its government and replaces everyone in power, then it will be at war with a majority of the world." The Australian Prime Minister said calmly. "And I am not talking about embargoes. Foreign soldiers will march down your streets and the duties of government will be divided amongst specific foreign powers."

"We are on the verge of an alien invasion that could destroy millions of lives and you are choosing _now_ to start an international war?" The President scoffed disbelievingly.

"Of course not." He smiled serenely. "We won't start the war until the invaders have been dealt with. We are just warning the United States of America that they can avoid this war by overhauling their government."

"China will gladly fight beside the Australian people in this matter."

"Thank you." The Australian Prime Minister said with a nod to his Chinese counterpart. "My fellow leaders should be aware though that we are actually following the lead of the Japanese-North Korean-Themiscyran Alliance. We have become… disturbed by certain events recently and they have been very forth-coming and inviting."

"America will answer any threat or attack in kind." The American President snarled angrily. "In fact, for every missile you send at us, we will send two back at you. For every soldier to shoot at ours there will be two to shoot back."

"Then you should hope you have enough men to stand up to all of us." The Russian Premiere stated with a quiet authority.

* * *

Over the following day there was little in the way of productivity. Nobody but the insane people went to school. Harry, Xander and Neville had all laughed at the thought that Hermione wouldn't have let this stop her education. Xander admitted that Willow was the same.

Lots of people called in sick. Some just didn't turn up.

A few nutty souls were stuck outside their places of work as their bosses hadn't decided to come into work.

The Sekirei where out in force in Japan. They were desperately rushing all over the place to help the police stop looters and crooks taking advantage of things.

The same was true of Batman and the Flash for their respective cities. The Smallville Amazons took care of Metropolis whilst Wonder Woman and Amara dealt with Washington D.C. as they worked out of the Japanese Embassy.

Everyone else split up to major cities or as directed by the Cuckoos as they sat in Cerebro and monitored the planet for the worst areas of chaos.

J'onn was getting more and more worried that the planet wouldn't be ready. Kilowog was still on Earth and acting as a liaison for the Corp. He was also helping J'onn get used to the current universe as he had been in a form of stasis for the past few centuries.

"Relax, these humans might be soft and puny but they've spirit." Kilowog assured J'onn. "Even if they can't handle it they have an army to call on if they need it. Lord Death has allies from planets, galaxies and realities."

"These humans confuse me." J'onn admitted as they sat in the Great Hall watching the monitors that showed the impending alien invasion.

The fleet of white rounded ships had just passed the moon and where about to enter orbit. The speed they travelled at was greater than the Amaterasu's.

"They are about to be invaded by a superior force intent on their destruction and they are bickering over inconsequential things like 'who was right'."

"They're a young bunch. Give 'em a few centuries." Kilowog shrugged.

"But they don't appear to _have_ a few centuries." J'onn pointed out.

Kilowog laughed. "Here, watch this." He waved his hand at the monitor and an image of the Earth appeared. He then rotated it so they could see Asia. From there he zoomed in on Japan. "Watch how they deal with an invasion."

* * *

The speed of the alien ships in and out of atmosphere was phenomenal compared to Earth's current tech. The real threat seemed to come from some form of vehicle launched at cities. It was a form of three-legged rip-off of War of the Worlds. It was white with deep red blotches and had a distinct organic look about it… but that might have been the slime dripping off it. It was also three-storeys tall.

They landed in open areas before attacking everything in sight.

Except in certain areas.

In Japan a total of fifty tripods attempted to land.

Ten hit the ground in two pieces having been sliced in half. Five were systematically drowned, frozen and then smashed into tiny pieces. Twenty were attacked by small groups of women with varying powers and the remaining fifteen were somehow punted back at the orbiting ships by the Japanese military.

North Korea and the Hidden City both had the same approach as each other. The tripods fell to the Earth but never stopped as they shot through the ground, past the crust and the mantle and into the core of the Earth where even being phased wouldn't save them from the Earth's central heating unit.

Flying over Europe was the Amaterasu which had been armed with weapons based on Kryptonian and Green Lantern technology. It worked in conjunction with three other vessels of the same design and made strafing runs at the tripods.

Australia and Asia were protected by the Japanese Air Force. They were equipped with a new type of missile, it was essentially a bullet or projectile knife, the explosive was remote detonated so that if it wasn't on target or landed near civilians or allies it would cause less damage.

Only thirteen tripods landed in Africa. But considering they landed hundreds of miles from civilisation… no one was in a rush to reach them.

Only America seemed to be struggling as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and the Green Lanterns Hal and Sinestro worked to protect civilians. They never engaged the tripods directly; instead they whisked people out of range.

Wonder Woman seemed to take great pleasure in throwing an errant punch at the tripods and leading them to the White House or the Pentagon where the bulk of the US military was deployed to protect major political asses- assets.

Superman took a more active approach in Metropolis when he punched a tripod into Luthor Towers… he made sure it was empty first but then for good measure he called down lightning frying the alien vehicle and bringing the building down on top of it.

Their own personal grudges against the government and Luthor partially satisfied, Wonder Woman and Superman returned to saving the civilians.

* * *

Things were becoming a little bit weird for the Flash in his city. Rescuing civilians was easy. Run in, pick them up and deposit them elsewhere… he changed things a little bit after rescuing the same man five times, he started putting them outside the city.

He then found himself with a bit of a dilemma; there was a new player on the scene. A woman with bird like wings, flying through the air and smashing at the tripods with her mace… the medieval weapon, not the bottle of pepper spray.

The Flash wasn't against the help but she was a little too enthusiastic and absorbed in her work. She sent chunks of the alien vehicles flying which mean the Flash had to quickly alter the priorities of which civilian he moved first.

Some of these people were not light.

The area was cleared and it was just the Flash, the aliens and the bird woman. The Flash decided he may as well help the woman out and watch her back.

Not that she needed it. Her mace seemed to be able to smash through the hull of the tripod easier than the Green Lanterns' rings or Superman's fists. It was a matter of minutes before she was finished.

"Hey! Down here!" The Flash called up.

He took a step back as the woman landed and he got a better look. She had a distinct bird of prey look, everything from the colour of her wings to the unusual helmet that covered her head and eyes like a mask. She had long red hair that flowed loosely down her back. She wore a yellow top that had no sleeves or straps but still seemed to support her breasts. Her legs were encased in deep green smooth leggings with a red piece of cloth around her waist like a very short skirt.

Despite her obvious beauty it was her expression that caught his eyes. A scowl.

"What do you want human?" She demanded.

"Well nice to meet you too!" The Flash said sarcastically. "I'm The Flash. There's a 'the' in there so don't forget it." He quipped. "Considering you seem to be new to this planet I thought you might want to meet some friends of mine who are also… erm… immigrants. They have probably finished off the rest of the invading ground forces."

"Fine, lead on." She instructed. "Just make sure you do not slow me down."

The Flash raised an eyebrow and the next thing she knew she was standing in the middle of the desert surrounded by soldiers and aliens in battle. She didn't say anything as she took to the skies and started smashing.

"No, you don't have to thank me." The Flash muttered sarcastically as he began zipping around and trying to save what was left of the US soldiers. "Fast? Why yes I am fast. Fastest man- fastest thing alive!"

He continued his private diatribe until he noticed Superman looking at him curiously between punching aliens and calling down lightning.

He shut his mouth then and kept it up in his mind.

"_For god's sake Barry, give it a rest!"_ The Flash sighed as the Cuckoos reminded him there was no more privacy in life. At least not in battle when you have telepaths providing communications and logistics.

The reason that the battle was occurring in the desert was because the US Military was not equipped to handle the invaders. They were being quickly decimated and the President and his staff were forced to evacuate to their most secret bunker (Courtesy of Wonder Woman's work on the alien tripods).

Area 51.

Had Superman and Batman stuck around at Area 51 after rescuing J'onn they would have been confronted by the US Army… who were actually the alien invaders in disguise.

The soldiers protecting the President called in all troops. The nearby cities were left defenceless as the troops withdrew to the desert.

The heroes around the world descended on America with the Japanese Air Force and decimated the invading aliens before heading to Area 51 where they managed to save what was remaining of the US Army and Marines.

Superman arrived first followed quickly by Wonder Woman the pair laid into the both the tripods and foot soldiers that appeared to be a humanoid form, they resembled a well built man but with no real defining features. Like the tripods they were white with deep red splotches.

As the other heroes, like The Flash and his new friend arrived, the invading ground troops were quickly dispatched.

But there weren't any human soldiers left.

"Lord Death." Superman said quietly.

"You called, for my master?" Xander appeared next to Superman dressed in his usual cloak that concealed his identity.

"These soldiers, they didn't deserve to die because of the stupidity of their leaders. Can your master help them?"

Death's Hand raised a skeletal hand to his concealed chin thoughtfully. The only people who could see them… that were alive to see them were the President and his cabinet.

"He can." The spectre nodded. "But should he?"

"These fools won't be able to order anyone after today." Superman scowled at the American President. "We will be taking them straight to Japan for holding. The Alliance is sending in a temporary government right now."

Death's Hand nodded slowly. "Then, my Master's Apprentice, you must speak to the souls of the fallen. Warn them of what is about to happen."

Superman tried to hide his surprise when Death's Hand addressed him as the Apprentice of Death. This wasn't supposed to be something spread around for a long, long time.

He floated into the air.

"I am Kal-El of Asgard, the God of Thunder and the Apprentice of Death." Superman called out loudly. "I am speaking to the souls of the fallen soldiers. If you wish to remain on the mortal plain and not crossover to the other side then stay by your bodies and Death himself will resurrect you."

A skeletal hand landed softly on his shoulder as Death's Hand floated up beside him. "I will handle things from here. You must end the threat to this planet. My Master does not need _more_ work this day." An awful rasping sound came from the cloaked figure. Superman realised it was a chuckle… Xander had really perfected his character.

Superman nodded before taking to the skies with the other heroes in pursuit. The Green Lanterns transported Batman and the Flash who were still trying to hide their magic.

This left Death's Hand to deal with the President and his cronies. He grinned evilly beneath his hood… he was going to have so much fun.

* * *

There was one huge ship in orbit above the planet surrounded by thirteen other ships.

They weren't in orbit very long as they were quickly retreating from the planet filled with beings that managed to defeat them so easily.

But Superman and the Green Lantern Corp felt they had an obligation to deal with these monsters now, before they found another planet to terrorise.

None of the Sekirei were capable of operating in space. Miya's ever-present wings gave her the ability to fly but she couldn't survive the vacuum. Batman, Wonder Woman and the Flash were blessed with magic from Harry so they could and did join the battle with the Corp, Superman and the rest of the Castle residents.

Superman and a team of Lanterns used their immense power to push the largest ship towards the sun. Superman and the Lanterns had phased through the ships engines destroying them so it couldn't resist. Superman then followed on as the Green Lanterns fell back as they couldn't fight the sun's gravity.

The rest of the Lanterns, with the castle residents and super heroes, were also phasing into the other ships. The engines were easily dealt with but then they had to engage in running battles as the energy weapons were very effective against them even when they were phased.

It was Wolverine who turned the tide of the battle when he got fed up of getting pinned down. He angrily began hacking away at the magic resistant hull from the inside until he caused hull breaches that would suck the vacuum vulnerable aliens out leaving the rest of them happy to stroll along to the next fight.

The rest of the mutants began utilising their gifts as X-23 and Cyclops followed Wolverine's approach.

There wasn't much metal in these ships so Lorna couldn't rip them apart. She was able to strip some of the metal to create metal cylinders that were passed to Jean and Neville who quickly began inscribing runes on them. Pretty soon Dani was hacking away with a lightsabre.

You couldn't conjure a lightsabre for some reason… unless you were Harry. The runes had to be etched onto un-conjured metal. The magical energy retained by the conjured metal interfered with the runes and it took several years before it dissipated enough. The other option was to have Harry cleanse the metal.

Eventually they were left with several empty and disabled ships littering the orbit of Earth.

"Damned aliens can't even be bothered to clear up after themselves." Wolverine grumbled over the comm. lines as they floated in space with the Lanterns observing the wreckage.

"We need to get all this alien tech out of orbit." Cyclops said. "The last thing we need is it falling into the Earth's gravity and destroying cities."

"We could put them back on Mars." Lorna suggested. "Or even the moon."

"Mars would be better." Jean voiced her opinion. "The last thing humanity needs to see when it looks up at a full moon is a reminder of all this death and destruction."

"If Lord Death is willing, moving some of it to Oa would be helpful. We could study the technology and maybe discover other places they have invaded. If they always destroy the people they conquer then there maybe hundreds of lost civilisations." The Green Lantern, Tomar-Re, offered.

"Sure." Neville nodded. "We'll put them on Mars for now and have Harry teleport what you need to Oa when he has time."

* * *

"See? I told you these humans were well protected." Kilowog said triumphantly as he slapped J'onn on the back as they watched the end of the battle in space.

J'onn looked torn between relief and depression.

"What's got you down? It's over. Those invading bastards won't ever be a problem again."

"I can't help but wonder what would have happened if this 'Death' person had been here to save my people. What is it about humans that made them special enough to save?" He asked with just a tiny hint of bitterness.

Kilowog grunted unhappily. "I'd kill those thoughts if I were you. The Corp is filled with people who have failed to stop invaders or who are the last of their kind." He advised. "Take the kid, Superman. He's the last of his kind. The last Kryptonian, his parents stuffed him in a ship as a little poozer and launched him into space just before his planet exploded."

"And Harry was the last living being… the last living anything in his home universe for millions of years."

Both men turned at the sound of a female voice entering the hall.

"Lana, everything sorted in the cities?" Kilowog asked the raven haired Amazon.

"No, I needed to stop using magic. I can feel that tattoo reacting to it." She sighed as she sat down. "I think I might ask Harry to just recreate my body and then move my soul over."

"I still don't get this magic stuff." He grumbled. "I can use it like my ring, but I don't get how it works in the world. Especially this soul stuff."

"Perhaps a more helpful analogy would exist within your own culture." J'onn suggested. "Everything I have been told so far is described from a human cultural perspective."

"Huh?"

"He saying you should find someone in the Corp who comes from a similar culture to yours and see if they can explain it." Lana smiled.

"Meh, I'll just ask Sinestro."

"Do we know who the bird woman is?" Lana asked as she saw The Flash's new companion hovering in space with the others.

"Nope, she just turned up and started hitting things. My type of woman." Kilowog smiled appreciatively.

"How strong is she?"

"She was able to smash holes in the tripods, but I couldn't see if that was just a function of her weapon." He said as he thought about it analytically. "Y'Know, I think I recognise her species." He said as the image managed to zoom in.

"Thanagarian."

Kilowog turned from the monitors to Lana in surprise.

She just shrugged. "They are in the database and ours are connected to Oa and the Lantern archives." She explained as she began sifting through the information on the holographic screen being projected in front of her. The table in the Great Hall was just as sophisticated as the lab equipment where they stored Clark's ship.

"Yeah… kind of a warrior race." Kilowog rubbed his chin as he recalled what he knew. "Something about defeating their gods with a special metal. Might want to look that up and warn Kal and the others."

"Sending the data to the Cuckoos now. They can inform the others through Cerebro."

"Those girls creep me out more than the Guardians." Kilowog shivered.

"_But we think you are so cute!"_

"And _that_ is just one of the reasons why." He said grumpily as they spoke in his mind.

"_That_… was a lot of carnage." Harry exclaimed as he slumped tiredly into a chair as he appeared with Xander having resurrected most of the fallen soldiers. "Lana?" He queried the presence of the young Amazon.

"Using my magic is causing that tattoo to have a reaction. We don't know what it is and I don't want to risk anything." She explained; it was clear this was upsetting her a bit.

"I was meaning to talk to you about this but we got a little caught up." Harry grimaced as he sat up and leaned forward. "That thing is like a rune. It's been tied to your soul. I am well and truly pissed about this and when I find the bastard who did it you can be assured they _will_ feel my full wrath." He growled angrily.

"Her soul?" Xander asked just as shocked as Lana was. "Screw that, they can feel the wrath of everyone else first. I'm sure Clark and Aphrodite will want in on the action, Lana is one of their Amazons."

Lana took a deep calming breath. "But you can do something about it, right?"

"Not without damaging your soul." He said sadly.

"Damaging whose soul?" Lorna asked as she and the others walked into the Great Hall. All the heroes were there including the new Thanagarian and Hal and Sinestro. The other Lanterns had returned to their duties.

Harry looked to Lana in askance for permission to divulge the information.

She nodded resignedly.

"The tattoo on her back is etched into her soul. She has stopped using magic because it has been reacting to it. The only way for me to remove the tattoo is to excise part of her soul."

"What's the big deal? You take out the tat' and then link her with some of us." Dani shrugged as they all took their seats.

The Thanagarian took a seat warily between Miya and Barry who had deactivated his armour and was now in civilian clothes like the others.

"Dani, we are talking about souls." Amara chided. "Regardless of what happens there will be a huge change in her life."

"If she needs a person to bond with she could bond with me." Chloe offered.

Lana smiled gratefully at her friend and sister.

"There is a whole island of women willing to be bonded with her." Diana smiled. "Volunteers will not be a problem."

"A whole island full of Danielle Moonstars." Emma said with a shudder.

"Why would we be Danis?" Kyla asked.

"When Dani found out that Amara had lost her soul mate she immediately understood the situation and offered herself as a soul mate." Emma explained.

"She didn't even hesitate." Amara said as she smiled fondly at Dani.

"What's to think about? She needed me, I wasn't going to say no." Dani shrugged, she was clearly a little uncomfortable with the attention.

"You can all think on it for a while." Harry said firmly. "I need to spend some time with Lana so I can examine the tattoo more clearly and determine the best way to do this."

Lana was playing with her hands nervously when a bolt of light hit her. She looked up at Jean curiously.

"A calming charm, doctor's orders." She assured her.

She did feel a lot better now.

"Relax, no one is going to use magic on you unless you get hostile and attack us physically." Barry suddenly said.

They all saw that the Thanagarian was now holding her mace.

She hadn't noticed Miya had her hand on the hilt of her sword in response.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter. There are a lot of people here so I won't bother giving you all their names now, maybe you could ask them later. But perhaps you could tell us your name and why you have come to this planet?"

"And who are you to demand my name?" She asked hotly.

"I'm the guy who can not be killed. I'm the guy who decides when _you_ die. I'm the guy who just resurrected over four thousand dead soldiers. I'm the guy who enabled the people around you to repel an invasion with little effort. _I_ am the guy who needs to know whether you are a threat to this planet." Harry spoke calmly but with passion, but his irritation was clear as his mouth and nose began to glow as his dragon's breath was stoked by his emotions.

The thing that made her pale was the other people in the room who had shifted into alternate forms, the one made of diamond, one of molten lava fire and several who were surrounded in fire but did not burn. Not to mention the two individuals with large metal claws or the others with energy swords.

And that didn't even begin to deal with the two Green Lanterns, wielders of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy.

"I am Shayera Hol, of Thanagar. I came to this planet as a scout for my people, simply to increase our knowledge of potential threats." She assured them. "I saw the invaders and the opportunity to fight. My people are warriors."

"Well, you are welcome as long as your intentions are peaceful to the planet. We will be happy to answer any questions you have later." Harry gave her a respectful nod that she returned.

Bruce wasn't too happy with this; he thought they should find out more about her. He would speak with Harry in private later. Of course Harry could tell from her soul that she had concealed a lot of the truth.

"Ok, the aliens are repelled and the telepaths will continue scanning the planet for any other infiltrators." Harry announced.

Shayera tried to maintain her expression when she heard they had telepaths, this was not what she expected to deal with.

"Whilst Dad and I dealt with resurrecting the soldiers we also captured the American President and his cabinet. We handed them straight to the Hague for holding until they can be tried for war crimes."

"War crimes? I hope genocide comes up in the charges." Laura scoffed.

"What about the interim government?" Scott asked.

"The Alliance is holding down the fort for now. The on site diplomats are working with the highest ranking members of the government left to ensure that elections will take place within six months. In the meantime the Alliance is going to request a UN group to come in and moderate things and observe the Alliance as they try to put the country back on its feet."

"Why don't you just retain control for yourselves?" Shayera asked. "You are clearly the most powerful group on the planet. You have already beaten these Americans, their spoils are yours to claim."

"Humans are a very independent and opinionated people." Miya explained from next to her. "Although we could do as you say, the people would rebel and there would be many deaths and injuries."

"Put down the loudest and the rest will follow."

Clark smiled as he remembered Harry telling him he had operated in a similar manner when necessary. "Harry will do that as a last resort." He told her from between Aphrodite and Kyla.

"What about the alien tech now lying around?" Bruce asked. "It could be devastating in the wrong hands."

"The Amazons have collected most of the larger pieces but it is inevitable that we missed some." Amara answered. "There is very little that could stand against our combined might though."

"I'm more worried about the innocents that will be caught in the crossfire." Bruce countered.

"Death is a fact of life, Bruce. I'll do what I can but people _will_ die because of the stupidity and greed of others." Harry assured him.

"What is the current response of the other countries?" Chloe asked. "Have they made any declarations about how they intend to respond to the days events?" She was sub-consciously rubbing her stomach where she had been impaled by falling debris when rescuing a young family. Fortunately she wasn't alone and Lorna had patched her right up. But it was still a horrifying ordeal.

Plus she really didn't want to go through childhood again so soon.

"They are all turtling up." Laura sighed. "Activating every soldier and reservist. Some countries are enforcing conscription."

"That is a sound strategy." Shayera pointed out. This would also give her the opportunity to observe the Earth's military might.

"Except they are going to start infringing on people's freedoms." Jean countered.

"I am more worried that they will start looking into weapons of mass destruction more actively." Emma scowled. "The last thing we need is more nuclear weapons."

"Could we work on a defensive orbital system?" Scott queried. "Something like a planetary shield using some technology from home or perhaps from the Lantern database?"

"We can look into it." Harry agreed, though it was clear he was reluctant to make use of too much advanced tech.

"If you are so worried about saving people, why did you not just destroy the invaders on the red planet?" Shayera asked curiously. "You have the ability."

"It was inevitable that people would die." Neville answered. "If we had dealt with the threat from Mars then they would have been suspicious and paranoid of us. They have already sent people after us. For us it was a matter of controlling the purpose for their deaths. In defence of their planet from an actual threat or whilst attacking us, when we don't have any negative intentions towards them.

"We are not conquerors."

"*cough* North Korea. *cough*" Barry muttered into his hand.

"_Most_ of us are not conquerors." Neville amended.

"Are there any other questions or issues?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, how are we supposed to go back to school after this?" Kyla asked.

"You wake up, get washed, get dressed, have breakfast, get on the bus and walk through the door." Harry smirked.

* * *

**A/N: The last of the American Government.**

When I say the American Government I mean the current incarnation. After all, you can in know way compare the government of todays Germany with Hitler's government. In fact, you quite easily say that Hitler's government was not a 'German' government... it was _Hitler's_ government. The first jews Hitler went after were German after all and most people seem to forget that.

But for this story the United States of America has been forced to change. There will still be idiots in power but the Alliance will be keeping a leash on who can actually run for President and government.

Freedom of Speech is not freedom to be complete and utter bastard.


	56. Chapter 56

It really wasn't as simple as Harry made it out to be to simply go back to work. Emma issued a notice to all parents that school would be postponed for the rest of the week. The adults had no choice but to return to work.

Smallville was untouched by the invasion, as it was a small town miles away from the nearest major city so it wasn't too hard to attempt to return to a life of normality. The rest of the world had it a little harder, especially the cities where looting had taken place.

Shayera had returned to Central City with Barry. Using funds from Harry, he had bought a secure residence for the alien woman where the pair would stay and operate out of. Barry was her unofficial guide on the planet.

When Lana wasn't in the lab having her soul examined by Harry, she was with Jason and showing him around town. She had explained that she was helping her family in the city, which was why she wasn't around during the invasion. Jason had had a small go at her for not calling him to help and speed things up.

Chloe spent a lot of her week off trying to explain and answer all of Lois' questions.

Then she tried to hide in Tokyo with Kyla who was accompanying Clark and helping out where they could around the city.

Unfortunately Lois thought she was hiding at the castle.

"Hey, Uzume, have you seen my cousin?" She asked the Sekirei as she finally found someone after searching for nearly fifteen minutes.

"I think she is in Tokyo. She said she was going to help Clark and Kyla."

"And _how_ does she get all the way to Tokyo in less than an hour?" She asked sceptically.

Uzume just smiled and grabbed her hand. "Follow me, I was just here to pick up Chiho's phone."

Lois didn't protest as she was dragged to a room just off the entrance hall of the castle. The problem was that once she walked through the door it was clear she wasn't in the castle anymore.

She was currently standing in a very luxurious room with sofas and reclining chairs. There were also computers, televisions and a kitchenette. Occupying the room were various Sekirei.

The large windows that led to a balcony showed a view of Tokyo.

"What the hell just happened?" She asked. "How did we get to… Tokyo?"

"We walked through a magical door." Uzume smiled as she led Lois to a large and expensive looking door with a nameplate in Japanese on it. "You're lucky, we used to have to take Portkeys. They were horrible!"

She knocked on the door and heard a familiar voice answer in Japanese.

"Hey Clark." Uzume greeted the man in the expensive suit behind the desk. "Lois was looking for Chloe."

Standing behind Clark was Tsukiumi. "Is it truly Chloe she wants or does she merely seek to spend time with my husband?" She asked pointedly.

Tsukiumi still believed that Lois was angling for a relationship with Clark and she wouldn't even believe Aphrodite that the girl just wasn't actively interested.

Of course, Aphrodite didn't bother mentioning that the girl was exceptionally aroused around their husband; that would make things too easy.

"Not now Tsukiumi." Clark sighed. "Lois, Chloe is… hiding from you." Chloe hadn't actually stated that when he had contacted her mentally, what she had actually said was 'oh god she found me'.

"Hiding? From me?" She asked in disbelief.

"You've been pestering her with lots of questions." Clark said with a smile. He found it ironic that it was Chloe moaning about questions.

"Well no one else is going to answer them! Uncle Gabe doesn't seem to know much and he's got the mojo."

"You can ask any of us questions Lois. We don't really tend to keep secrets from those who are aware of who we are."

"Besides, there is a charm on you to prevent you from blabbing." Uzume added.

"A _charm_!? You put a spell on me?" She asked Clark dangerously.

"Not exactly." He corrected as he stood up and straightened his suit jacket. "The charm is on us. It protects our identities." He headed for the door with Tsukiumi in tow.

"Where are you going?" Lois demanded.

Clark stopped with his hand on his door. "Lois, this is my job. I have duties to deal with."

"Fine, I'll come with you." She said assertively.

"You can't come with _me_. You can accompany Uzume and Tsukiumi though."

"And _why_ can't I come with you?"

"Because I am going to be dealing with a bunch of boys and men in various states of undress whilst we assess their medical status. It's the same reason I won't be going with Uzume and Tsukiumi who will be women and girls in a similar state."

"Oh." She said a little weakly.

"You should still have an escort. I insist-"

"Tsukiumi! Mutsu will be with me, Harry and Scott will be there too." Clark caressed the cheek of his blonde-haired Sekirei. "And if that isn't enough, I am the God of Thunder and _you_ will be right next door with the remaining Sekirei."

Tsukiumi continued to grumble as she pushed past Uzume and Lois and stormed up to the only male in the room Lois and Uzume had arrived in.

"Listen carefully Swine!" She hissed as she stood on her toes to try and get level with the taller Mutsu. "If one hair on my husband's head is out of place when we are done I will challenge you in the arena."

Mutsu tried to hide his smirk. Both he and Tsukiumi knew that in a fight he would win. But he understood the desire to protect one's Ashikabi.

"Of course, I will protect Uncle as though he were my own Ashikabi." He assured her.

"Wait, what am I supposed to do?" Lois asked.

"You have two choices." Clark informed her. "One: Head back through the door Uzume brought you here by or two: go with Uzume and Tsukiumi and help out. The second one will get you to Chloe."

Lois shrugged as she linked arms with Uzume. "Its not like I have anything else to do."

* * *

Lois couldn't help but feel slightly inadequate.

Over one hundred beautiful women surrounded her and each one was standing there in their bra and panties happily chatting away and waiting to be called.

"Uzume! What the hell are you doing?"

Uzume was currently down to her panties; she never bothered with a bra in the first place and rarely wore her panties. "Its Sekirei Diagnosis Day." She explained. "We get measured, weighed and examined to make sure we are all in good health." She began putting her clothes in a bag that she handed to a female attendant in a lab coat nearby. The bag was marked with a 10.

"This is just a scam right? There are cameras all over the place and Smallville is watching and getting his rocks off." Lois scrutinised the walls looking for signs of hidden cameras.

"Clark doesn't need to watch in secret. He could walk in here right now and he would be swamped by girls eager to talk to him." Uzume laughed as she dragged Lois into the crowd searching for Chiho.

"What is this? A Miss Tokyo Pageant?" Lois quipped.

"Thank you Lois, you are very beautiful yourself." Yume quipped cheekily as the pair approached.

"She has a nice set of breasts." Musubi said excitedly as she began circling a now very worried Lois. "Do you think she will beat you Yume?"

"Hey! Hey! Hands!" Lois squawked as Musubi's hands started wandering over her chest.

"Musubi!" Tsukiumi screeched. "What have we told you about playing with other people's bosoms?"

"Aw, but they look so good! And they feel even better!"

"Don't worry Musubi, you can come and play with mine if you let me play with yours."

"Yay! You're the best Yukari!" Musubi squealed happily as she bounced (literally) over to the female Ashikabi.

"I take it back. This is a lesbian convention." Lois muttered as she watched the two women fondle each other and giggle.

"Harry and Takami say that all Sekirei have an obsession or fascination with their bodies and other people's bodies." Chiho explained. "You get used to it after a while."

Lois looked very sceptical. "If you say so. Why are you dressed like that? I thought you were human?"

Like everyone else in the room, Chiho was just in her bra and panties. "Clark insisted that all Ashikabi get medical checkups as well."

"So is that what the '10A' stands for?" She referred to the markings on her underwear.

"Yes, the number is the number of my Sekirei and the A denotes me as an Ashikabi." She nodded.

"There aren't many Ashikabis." Lois noted as she looked around.

"_You're looking at boobies! You're looking at boobies!"_ Lois spun around to see Musubi, Kusano and the girl Musubi called Yukari singing smugly.

"I have no idea which of you is the most immature." Lois sighed.

"You sound just like my Sheena." Yukari laughed. "It takes me ages to get him to loosen up."

"Hey, I'm plenty loose."

"Well strip down, you might as well join the queue and get a free check up."

"You just want to feel me up. I'm fine and healthy." Lois said firmly as Musubi and Yukari giggled.

The two girls went back to chatting and… feeling.

"Alright ladies, start forming lines and we'll get through this quickly." Takami announced from the front of the room where various female physicians were waiting.

Lois was suddenly grabbed by the arms on either side by Uzume and Yukari. "Come on, free check up time!"

"I'm healthy!" Lois objected. "And what the hell happened to my clothes?!" She squeaked.

She was dressed in under-garments matching all the Sekirei and Ashikabi, but hers had the number 109 on them.

"I'm not the last Sekirei!" Kusano said happily as she grabbed Chiho and Musubi's hands and began to dance.

"You guys think you are sooo funny." Lois grumbled as she was led off.

* * *

"Haruka, I notice you haven't made any more attempts to run off again." Clark smirked as the familiar twenty-year-old Ashikabi stood in front of him in his underwear.

"You are going to bring this up every time, aren't you?" Haruka sighed.

"So how are things for you and Kuno?" Clark asked.

"Fine. She is enjoying her work at the host club. I'm not fond of her working there though." He admitted.

"She is perfectly protected." Clark assured him. "MBI owns the club. I bought it for Homura to run so she could employ Sekirei and Ashikabi."

"As Hosts?" Haruka asked in disgust.

"As greeters, waitresses, kitchen hands… and hosts, if they want to. Lets not forget that Kuno only sings there." Clark pointed out. "Which is probably a good thing after her one time filling in for the kitchens."

The poor timid Sekirei had managed to break six crystal champagne glasses, spill an entire urn of coffee _and_ start a kitchen fire.

And that was in the first thirty seconds.

She was forbidden from going anywhere but the dressing room and stage without an escort now.

"Ok, you are good and healthy. Hopefully Kuno is too." Clark announced.

"What? But you didn't do anything." Haruka argued. "Why do we have to be naked?"

"Its magic, you are only in your underwear so we can do a casual check for things a magical scan might miss, can't be too careful. Would you really want to spend thirty minutes in an MRI machine for inferior results?"

"I'm claustrophobic."

* * *

"Lois Lane… Number 109? Ok whatever floats your boat." Harry shrugged.

"I thought there were only female doctors here." Lois grumbled as she tried to cover herself with her hands.

"The female doctors can only deal with the physical side of things. I'm here if a Sekirei wants more of her previous memories back." Harry explained. "With their help of course." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the Cuckoos.

"I don't have any previous memories. I'm not a Sekirei! That girl, Yukari, she put me in these with her mojo." Lois complained.

"Then why did you get in the line for the Sekirei and not the Ashikabi?"

"I don't know which is which! I was dragged here." She snapped.

Harry looked down at the quiet little girl who was still firmly gripping Lois' hand.

Kusano just used her other hand to reach up and tap the number on Lois' panties. "109. That means she is a Sekirei. She is my little sister." She declared.

"And does Number 109 have an Ashikabi?" Harry asked with a questioning smile.

"I want Clark to be her Ashikabi."

"Hey-"

"Now Kusano." Harry interrupted Lois. "You know that isn't how it works. If it was then every Sekirei would want Clark as their Ashikabi. 109 has to find her own Ashikabi. But who knows, maybe it will be Clark after all."

"What about Kusano's memories?" Lois asked trying to change subject. "You said something about giving the Sekirei back memories. Where are Ku's?"

"Ku is too young for hers at the moment. Instead we are going to go straight to the second half of the day. Beach time!" Harry cried happily as he grabbed the giggling little girl into a hug and vanished.

Lois stood there for a moment wondering what she was supposed to do. "YUKARI! WHERE ARE MY GODDAMNED CLOTHES?"

* * *

The Sekirei Diagnostic Day was a huge success. Clark and Takami were finally able to grab the final missing Sekirei and explain the situation to them. They were able to reach the Ashikabi as well. Fortunately they were all decent people; they just had a rational and intense fear of MBI.

The clean up of the alien tech was easily dealt with. J'onn was taken to Tokyo where he was assigned to the Alliance Headquarters to advise on their technology and space exploration.

Shayera was given the moniker 'Hawkgirl' by Barry and this was used to protect her identity and her wings, much like they did for Miya. She was staying with Barry at his personal headquarters in Central City whilst he showed her Earth and how to blend in.

For most of the castle residents they returned to Smallville High. Lana's relationship with Jason was an open secret, they were to avoid as much interaction with each other as possible but they were free to spend chaperoned time in public. Kazehana and Yume had instantly offered their services as chaperones.

"Have you managed to sneak into any broom closets yet?" Jodi asked Lana teasingly at lunch on their first day back.

"Jodi! We aren't even supposed to see each other during the day!" Lana hissed.

"I think you should get as much kissing done as you can." Abigail shrugged. "Take it from someone who nearly got banned from kissing for life." Abigail had been treated with Bruce' Banners ray gun and was happy to know she could kiss who she liked.

"I wonder what would have happened if you were to kiss Clark." Chloe mused. "Maybe you should have kissed one of us!"

Silence descended on the cafeteria.

"I said that a little loud, huh?" She winced.

"As you were people." Kyla called out loudly. "Don't make me get my boyfriend to come and deal with you."

People instantly shuffled off as quick as they could.

"Does Clark know you drop his name like that?" Lana asked.

"Nah, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Someone could break their knuckles on his face?" Jean laughed as she sat down at the table.

"Jean… why are you here?" Chloe asked worriedly. "I thought you-"

"Chloe, after you've had about five burning days you'll understand the desire to make the most of your new youth. I told Scott to suck it up and deal with it."

"Are you going to be in our classes, Jean?" Chiho asked.

"Yep!" She grinned happily. "I was even thinking of trying out for cheerleading."

"There were a lot of names on the sign up sheet." Lana commented. "I think I am going to need to assign a co-captain. I was surprised to see your name on there Chiho. I didn't think you were interested."

Chiho's head snapped to glare at her Sekirei.

Uzume sat there trying to look innocent.

Trying… but failing.

"I am _not_ becoming a cheerleader." She hissed.

"But you'd look so cute!" Uzume pleaded.

"Who'd look cute?" Lois asked as she dragged a chair to the already crowded table.

"Uzume signed Chiho up for cheerleading." Chloe answered.

"Chiho? As a cheerleader?" Lois was clearly sceptical. "She's not the type."

"See?" Chiho told her Sekirei.

"I have an idea." Lana said with a sudden smile. "Why don't you and Chloe both sign up temporarily? You could do it as a bit of investigative journalism, write a piece about cheerleaders as outsiders."

"Sounds more like David Attenborough on a wildlife piece." Phoebe laughed.

"_Here we have the Cheerleader in her natural habitat. Notice how the others follow the member of the herd with the largest breasts and blondest hair."_ Celeste mimicked the famous documentarian as the others laughed.

"They will be interacting with them. That would be more Steve Irwin." Lois countered. _"Will ya look at the boobies on that one. She's the clear leader, why don't we get in closer and see if we can't get a good look at what she's got hidden up that skirt?"_ She said in a very bad Australian accent.

Once again silence descended on the cafeteria.

"Keep it moving people!" Kyla called out.

"I'll do it as long as Lois is nowhere near the field." Chloe agreed hesitantly.

"Do what?" Ryan asked as he joined them.

Jean had suggested Ryan start high school with the rest of the castle students. He was doing quite well with his training but he needed to push his boundaries.

"Chloe and Chiho are going to be cheerleaders." Kyla answered.

"Really? I've seen the Cuckoos and Lana practice with Uzume and Musubi, but I can't see Chiho doing that sort of thing."

"_See?!"_ Chiho said more emphatically.

"I want my hot Chiho the Cheerleader!" Uzume pouted.

Chiho rolled her eyes and leaned in to whisper in Uzume's ear.

Uzume's had a very happy look on her face.

Ryan had a very red face and stood up quickly.

"Ryan? What's wrong?" Chloe asked.

"Chiho offered to dress up as Sailor Moon and I think that's hot so I have an erection."

Ryan's eyes widened in shock as did the eyes of everyone around him.

Chiho was completely red from embarrassment.

Ryan suddenly glared at Chloe.

"I am so sorry Ryan. I… I don't know what happened!" Chloe began to apologise, she hadn't meant to use her truth compelling ability.

"Did anyone else hear me?" Ryan asked tightly as he refused to look around the cafeteria.

"No Ryan, they did not." Phoebe said soothingly.

"After an earlier outburst I cast a privacy charm on the table."

"And Chloe honestly didn't mean to make you tell the truth." The Triplets assured him.

"Sit down kid." Lois ordered as she dragged the boy back into his chair. "I don't spend much time at that castle but I know you should be used to frank discussions of sex by now."

"Ryan, can I ask you a question?" Chloe asked.

"You can."

Chloe was about to speak when Kyla stopped her. "One moment, did you mean to say that or did Chloe's ability make you say it?"

"Chloe made me say it." Ryan said uncomfortably.

Chloe leaned over to Lana and whispered in her ear.

Lana nodded and then relayed what was said. "Chloe wanted to ask, and feel free not to answer, but I thought you could block out thoughts now?"

Ryan sighed unhappily. "I can't block thoughts, I can just ignore them. When it comes to exams Lorna is going to have me tested at the castle."

"She thinks you will cheat?" Kyla asked not quite believing it.

"No, not cheat." Phoebe answered.

"He will hear what everyone in the exam hall is thinking. Every right answer will be there for him." Celeste explained.

"Even worse: Every wrong answer will be there as well. It makes it very hard to think for yourselves." Mindee added.

"We used to give the Cuckoos their exams in Harry's head. It was the only place they could be without hearing everyone." Jean told them.

"Is _that_ why you sometimes sit there staring into space?" Lana asked.

"Just the three of us."

"Harry."

"And his dragon."

"No Lois, that was _not_ a euphemism." Ryan said quickly.

* * *

"Hey Jason, how's the team looking?"

"Clark? Are you allowed on the grounds?" Jason asked as he saw the taller man walking up to the football field.

"I'm registered as a part-time teacher and guest speaker."

"Oh, right. You teach economics, right?"

"I try. I'm still not getting the hang of this teaching thing. Last year I was in class with most of these people." He indicated the footballers on the field.

"I don't suppose we can convince you to go back to school? These boys are trying but they seem to be lacking… something." Jason admitted.

"Maybe they need some motivation."

"Huh… that looks like some good motivation right there." Jason said in thoughtful surprise as he watched several of the cheerleaders carry out a cooler full of drinks.

"They must be new cheerleaders." Clark said.

"Boys! Take five and hydrate!" Jason called out to the team.

"I'm going to go say 'hi' to the girls." Clark said as he moved towards his girlfriend and their friends.

Jason just nodded as he headed to the cooler himself.

"No suit?" Kyla asked with a small pout as he approached.

"I thought you preferred me in casual clothes?" Clark said as he looked down at his shirt and jeans.

"_I_ do. But that doesn't mean I don't like to show off my powerful and hunky boyfriend." She said as she bobbed her eyebrows.

"That probably has more to do with her dropping your name when it comes to threatening other people." Lana explained.

"Threatening? Amazons are not supposed to be picking fights." Clark said with a wry smile.

"No, but we do keep the peace and fight when needed." Kyla challenged.

"And was this one of those 'needed' times?"

"Of course not." Kyla said smugly. "That's why I dropped your name; to avoid having to fight."

Clark couldn't help but smile at her logic. "I suppose I should be glad you didn't drop one of my other names.

"Alright, new topic." Clark said as he changed the subject. "Why are you dressed as a cheerleader, Chloe?"

Only Kyla and Chiho were in casual clothes. Chloe looked very uncomfortable in the short skirt and tight top.

Chloe nudged Mindee who rolled her eyes.

"Chloe is refusing to talk as she thinks she has lost control over her truth power." Mindee explained. "She nearly caused a bit of a scene at lunch."

"And the cheerleader uniform is punishment or penance?" Clark asked.

"No, I suggested that she join up for a while to write an article about cheerleaders from an outsiders point of view." Lana answered.

Clark frowned. "Aren't some of your cheers in the form of a question? 'Who's gonna win?' That's one of them. What will happen when she asks that, will everyone in earshot give their opinion?"

Chloe paled as Lana looked a little sick herself at the thought of everyone shouting out an unexpected answer. Kyla was laughing hysterically as Uzume tried to calm her.

"I will take her and have her work on the physical side of things." Mindee assured them.

"Did I miss it? Is it over?" Lois asked as she ran up.

"Miss what?" Uzume asked as Lois tried to catch her breath.

"Chloe being a cheerleader. You really think I'd miss the chance to see her try this?" She grinned at Chloe.

"You do remember that Chloe is a trained Amazon?" Kyla asked. "She can do this sort of stuff in her sleep."

"Yeah, so can I. But you wouldn't catch me jumping around in a short skirt and waving pom-poms." She countered.

"Kent! Get off the pitch so the girls can get back to training." Jason shouted angrily from the touchline.

Clark was a little taken aback. "Did he seem angry at me?"

"He seemed a little angry in general." Lana offered.

"He does look like he is in a mood." Kyla agreed.

"I need a drink. I'll be right back." Lois said as she headed to the cooler.

"I'm going to go and find Harry. I'll wait with him until you are finished; no need to annoy Jason any further."

* * *

Like most life forms, Kryptonians consumed solids and liquids and then expelled the waste.

In other words: Even Superman needed to pee.

Clark was washing his hands when the door to the men's room opened. At first he just ignored it, it was a public bathroom after all. But then he felt the slender arms wrap around him.

"Kyla? What are you doing here?" Then he looked in the mirror. "Lois?!"

"Hey handsome." She said seductively. "Why don't you let me deal with you for now. Maybe later we can have Kyla join us." Her hands slipped to his belt.

Clark quickly grabbed them. "Lois! You don't even like me! What-"

Clark was interrupted as the door slammed open and a man in a hoodie with his face covered aimed a shotgun at them. Clark grabbed Lois and spun away into a stall as the gun was fired.

"What the hell is- whoa there!" Danielle Moonstar had heard the gunshot and found herself staring down the barrel of the gun. She was trained in disarming gunmen and had the gun in her hands in less than a second without using even a tiny bit of magic. She then smashed the butt of the gun in to the attacker's face knocking him out.

Clark was desperately trying to get up, for some reason the gunman hadn't fazed Lois one bit and she was still trying to undo his trousers.

"Lois, cut it out!"

"Aw come on Clarkie. Haven't you ever fantasised about making love in a bathroom?"

"Clark?" Dani queried as she kept the gun trained on the attacker.

"Aphrodite!" Clark shouted.

"Kinky! Calling in the missus." Lois grinned.

Clark gave up used a stunner on the girl. He conjured a stretcher for her and turned around to see a very angry Aphrodite standing there.

Clark knew that look; he'd seen it before. "So, someone is messing around with Love again." He sighed.

"Yes." Aphrodite hissed as she easily lifted the downed gunman and pulled back his hood.

"Jason?" Clark muttered in surprise. "Is he affected like Lois or is this something different."

"What do _you_ think?" Aphrodite asked curiously. "You must be able to feel it."

"I can, but I serve the Avatars, I am not one of them." He reminded her.

"Your bond with Death is more than that of an Apprentice, you are bonded to Harry and myself as family, your senses are as strong as ours in these matters."

"Well this is certainly awkward." Harry muttered as he arrived with Emma.

"You know the situation?" Clark asked.

"I have connected everyone mentally." Emma nodded. "Thank you for allowing me access, Goddess." She gave a slight bow to Aphrodite.

"We are truly family now." She responded.

"Ok, we can fix these two fairly easily. But we need them back at the castle, we need to use Bruce's new ray gun." Harry explained.

"Do you know what happened to them?" Dani asked.

"No, but I do know that two people who have never set foot in Smallville before two months ago have an alarmingly high amount of Kryptonite in their blood stream. I need that neutralised before I can restore their brain chemistry"

"Is Lana in the loop?" Clark asked Emma.

"She is."

"Fine, I'm taking these two back to the castle. I don't know how to use the machine though so I will leave them unconscious in two of the cells." Clark said as he hefted Jason over his shoulder and put a hand on Lois's shoulder before vanishing.

"He's spent how many years watching us do magic and he still can't remember that we can teleport objects remotely?" Dani sighed.

"He has a lot to remember Dani." Aphrodite chided with a smile. "He gets the job done as best he can. All we can do is help him when he needs it."

Dani wasn't convinced. "I'm just saying is all."

* * *

"Get over yourself Smallville." Lois scoffed as she sat up on the medical bed in the castle infirmary.

Jason had been fixed and his memories modified before being taken home and left to wake up on his own. As Lois was in the know she was woken up in the castle by Jean and Clark.

"It's true, Dani walked in on you with your hand down his pants." Jean giggled.

"Oh god… wait… you said you could re-grow body parts, right? So you can chop off my contaminated hand and re-grow it."

"What are you complaining about? I'm the one who was molested!" Clark argued. "Keep your hands to yourself, Lois." He said with a slight smile tugging at his lips as he marched off.

"Hey! I'm not done with you yet Smallville!" Lois shouted as she tried to get off the bed. "Come on Jean, I'm healthy… other than needing a new hand." Lois whined as Jean pushed her back down.

"I know. But whilst you're here I thought I'd give you that new hand." Jean said as she held up a scalpel.

* * *

Lois ran from the infirmary as fast as she could, she eventually found herself following the sounds of an argument in the Great Hall.

She was not impressed when she saw Jean sitting at the table smirking at her.

"You can not send in an army of armed Amazons to deal with this." Harry said with a small laugh.

"These foul beings would dare meddle with the sanctity of love!" Aphrodite said angrily. "I cannot believe you can sit there so calmly and let this happen."

"Aphrodite." Clark said warningly.

"And you! I know you can feel how wrong this is!" She turned on her husband.

"Aphrodite! You're anger is getting the best of you." Harry snapped. "Now sit down Goddess."

Lois never really believed that the so-called gods and goddesses had so much respect for Harry. She saw the way Clark, Aphrodite and Loki teased him.

But right now… she could see his power. She could see the fear and respect in Aphrodite's eyes as the goddess quickly sat down.

"I never sit calmly when people are in pain. I _always_ have plans in motion. If you were to calm yourself and observe your surroundings you would realise my plan and that I was only waiting for you to allow me to tell you the results." Harry growled.

"Both of you calm down." Clark ordered as he pushed Harry down into his chair. "Phoebe, do you have anything?"

Aphrodite frowned as she looked around the table. Everyone was there except the triplets. Their absence told her everything she needed to know about Death's plan.

"_The new cheerleaders have developed a chemical they call the 'Love Molecule'. It is enhanced with Kryptonite. They have been spiking the football team's water cooler to make the boys more pliable and subservient."_

"_They are currently throwing a pool party and taking advantage of their… love slaves."_ Mindee added.

"_Those bitches are so off the squad."_ You could hear Celeste scowling over the mental communications.

"I think being cheerleaders will be the least of their concerns." Chloe sighed. "So, you had a plan?" She asked Harry.

"I _had_ a plan." Harry nodded. "Now I have a _new_ plan."

Everybody groaned in frustration at the grin on Harry's face.

Everyone except Xander who got eager and Lois who had no idea what was going on.

* * *

Harry's original plan involved various teams making surgical insertions into the houses of the cheerleaders and capturing them. They would liaise with the Sheriff so there wasn't a panic over the missing girls.

Instead, Lana and Harry had collected Jason and restored his memories. He and Lois were explaining what had happened to the Sheriff whilst a new team infiltrated the pool party.

Aphrodite, the triplets, Kyla and Musubi were dressed in nothing but bikinis as they sauntered through the house where the pool party was being held.

Clark did his best not to blush as he led them. He was just glad he was allowed to wear Bermuda shorts. The girls had pouted and pleaded but Aphrodite overruled them… she was trying to make up for snapping at him earlier.

"_Do we have enough people for this?"_ Clark asked over the telepathic link the Cuckoos were providing. _"There are a lot more people here than I thought."_

"_We will be using some mental persuasion."_ Emma answered from where she was hiding in a surveillance van out front.

"_This mental communication is downright creepy._" Came the uncomfortable voice of the Sheriff.

"_Just plant the bugs where you can, if you can get them on the cheerleaders, even better."_ Laura instructed.

"_Why am I the only male here?"_

"_Because you're the only one who can fit in. They already know the rest of us."_ Harry answered.

"_Then morph into someone else and get in here."_

"_Clark, Mara has her eye on you. Separate from us and make yourself available."_ Phoebe instructed.

Clark kept exterior cool and collected as he did as he was told. Inside was another matter. _"Can I just point out… again… that this is a really bad idea. These drinks are laced with Kryptonite."_

"_Noted. Now move it."_ Clark could _hear_ Harry's smug grin.

Clark made his way to the bar that was nearby. Clearly the owners of this fairly upscale house were used to hosting parties. The Sheriff would be arresting everyone present for underage drinking.

"Hey Clark, you're looking parched." Mara said seductively as she sashayed over in her bikini. "Why don't try this? Its my own recipe."

"Erm-"

"_Drink the damned poison Clark!"_ Harry practically shouted.

"Thanks, sounds great." Clark smiled winningly. _"I hate your guts Harry!"_

Clark chugged the drink down and immediately felt the effects of the Kryptonite. He tried to maintain his balance but his blood was literally boiling.

"Clark? Are you ok?" Kyla asked as she came rushing over. "What did you give him?" She demanded of Mara

"Nothing! Just a drink!" She said as she began to back away in worry. She suddenly found herself boxed in by the Cuckoos.

"Somebody call an ambulance." Phoebe instructed as they began to draw the attention of the partiers.

Aphrodite was kneeling down on Clark's other side as he reached a hand up to her. "Bring me Harry. I must hurt him." He rasped.

Aphrodite just smiled; if Clark was making these sorts of comments then he would be fine. "You can deal with him later."

"I'm here, I'm here." Harry said as he ran up.

"I saw him walking outside and I grabbed him." Musubi stated woodenly. She was a very bad actor.

"Alright Clark, lets get you to the hospital." Harry said reassuringly.

Clark's eyes widened in horror. "I swear to god Harry; I will make you pay for this."

* * *

Clark was exceptionally uncomfortable.

He was sitting up in the hospital bed surrounded by his wife, soul mate and Sekirei, some of whom were eyeing him up like a side of meat.

And he was wearing one of those horrible little hospital gowns.

"Where is he? I've been here for over an hour." Clark grumbled.

"Father said he had to liaise with the Sheriff." Homura answered uncomfortably.

"He's doing this on purpose, isn't he?" He glared at Number 6. "Tell him that he either gets here now or I will sign out AMA."

"What's that?" Kazehana asked as Homura quickly exited.

"Against Medical Advice." Matsu answered. "It means the doctors said he wasn't well enough to leave but that he did so anyway- ow!"

Matsu rubbed her hand where Clark had rapped it.

"Leave my bed sheets alone." He glared at her.

"Spoil sport." She pouted as she moved back to stand beside Kazehana.

"Isn't Helen on duty tonight?" Clark asked.

"No, this is her night off." Kyla said apologetically.

"How are Lois and Jason?"

"Other than trying to get a handle on not being in control of themselves, they are doing fine." Matsu answered. "Lana said that Jason was sorry about snapping at you."

"Wasn't his fault, he can buy me a coffee to make it up to me if he wants." Clark laughed. "And Lois?"

"She is avoiding Jean." Kyla smirked. "Something about a 'crazy scalpel wielding red head'."

"What about you, Aphrodite? How are you feeling now?"

"Better, thank you Husband." She said with a hint of shame. "I apologise again for my earlier behaviour."

"You can make it up to him later." Kyla grinned.

The door opened and a doctor walked in. Just not the one they wanted. "Clark, I hear you are attempting to leave our care?" Dr. Scanlan asked with a smile.

"I'm perfectly fine. Harry already cleared me he just refused to sign the papers." Clark grumbled.

"I assume that Dr. Potter has used _all_ his abilities to heal you?" Scanlan asked with a very pointed look. At Clark's pointed look he tried to explain. "He filled me in after the kidnapping attempt from the hospital."

"Everyone here is in the know." Kyla said cautiously.

"If we weren't you wouldn't be able to talk about it." Matsu shrugged.

Scanlan nodded as he remembered some of the things Harry had told him. "Magic, he used magic to check you and heal you?"

"Yes, he's just being his usual annoying self. Another one of his jokes. The truth is…" Clark paused and gave Scanlan a piercing look before making his decision. "… I, Clark Kent, am Superman."

Scanlan's eyes widened as the truth hit him. "My god! How did we never- magic of course." He began to chuckle. "So I assume your physiology is completely different to ours?"

"Different enough. The main issue for me is that Kryptonite can severely damage me."

"Of course. Your allergies." He nodded. "Its very useful knowing about these blasted rocks. No offense."

Clark just waved it off.

"Because we know about the infected we can help them or send them to Dr. Potter. The government is still stonewalling the scientific community on the effects of these rocks." He scowled.

"Go to the MBI website or the Superman website." Matsu instructed. "You will find lots of international scientific papers there about the effects, including medical advice."

"Are there English translations?"

"Translations for _every_ language." She said smugly.

"More magic?" Scanlan asked curiously.

Matsu was indignant. "Of course not! I wrote a program to translate them."

"That's very impressive. And you managed to account for grammar rules?"

"If you are referring to the mess that a certain search engine's translation system can make of things, then yes. My program is full proof."

"Matsu is about as human as I am, Doctor." Clark said with a proud smile. "She is also one of the smartest people around."

"I can believe it." He chuckled. "Are all of you… non-human?"

"Technically I am the only human in the room, other than you Doc." Kyla waved.

"Well you definitely all look human." He muttered as he began scribbling on the clipboard. "Ok Clark, I've officially discharged you. Take your papers to the front desk and they'll send you on your way."

"You're a lifesaver Doctor." Clark said gratefully.

"Hardly." He scoffed. "Not compared to you."

* * *

**A/N:**

I think I discovered that a lot of people who read this story are Australian!

I made a typo in the last chapter by calling the political leader of Australia the President. He's actually a Prime Minister. You spend enough time typing 'American President' and 'Australian President' kind of flows from the fingers.

Don't worry though! I know the truth and have gone back and changed it... so... if you want to see some MAJOR changes to the last chapter... tough.

There was a political coup off camera and Australia went from being an independent republic to a member of the Commonwealth again.

It shall never be referenced in this story though;)


	57. Chapter 57

The cheerleaders were handed over to the Sheriff who charged them with a range of offenses including the handling of Kryptonite. The knowledge of how to make the 'Love Molecule' was altered slightly so they could never get it to work.

Aphrodite made a heartfelt apology to Harry for her behaviour and she spent the night with Clark making it up to him.

Clark's Eighteenth birthday was approaching and he wanted to have more freedom to travel back and forth between Japan and Smallville.

For a man who can break the sound barrier, a jet wasn't going to cut it.

Instead he had several MBI scientists and Matsu working on a special device based on Kryptonian and Sekirei technology.

Other than Matsu, only Harry knew about it and was involved.

The world was abuzz with the news of a new invention from the Japanese company that was rumoured to have the potential to change the world.

At 6pm, Tokyo time, Clark stood on a raised platform in front of a crowd of reporters and scientists from around the world. Behind him was the team who had created the device.

Two large metallic, free-standing doorways stood at either end of the platform.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Clark greeted them in Japanese with a smile. "I am Clark Kent, owner of MBI. When I, a simple farmer's son from Smallville, Kansas USA, came into ownership of a Japanese company I knew my life was about to become very complicated. Most of the work has been done by my mother, Martha Kent, who has had control until I came of age.

"I love being in Japan. I love the culture and I love the people.

"But I am still just a farmer, I help my parents with their chores when I am at home and my friends and family all live in Smallville.

"So, rather than force myself to choose between Tokyo and Smallville or to subject myself to untold hours sitting on a plane, I asked the people at MBI to develop a new method for transportation. A more efficient and faster method.

"What they came up with was this:" Clark indicated the two doorways.

"The Prime Minister of Japan has graciously agreed to give the first ever public demonstration of this device."

There was cautious clapping as the head of state mounted the stage. It didn't take a genius to figure where this was headed.

Clark bowed low to the Prime Minister, the Japanese people in the audience and even the scientists seated on the platform were wide-eyed as it was returned at equal depth.

Clark led the Prime Minister to one of the doorways where the man stood tall before walking through the doorway only to vanish and reappear through the second doorway.

The man turned with a smile and bowed to Clark before taking a seat with the scientists.

"Teleportation is now a reality." Clark said with a huge smile. "Spending hours on a plane is no longer necessary to travel across oceans. We can send aid to countries in need without having to worry about the cost of fuel. If people need to be transported carefully for medical reasons, these devices can be used and we are even working on a portable version.

"There is no breaking down and destroying the original body. That man is the same being who walked through the first door." He pointed at the Prime Minister. "The doorways work by creating a fold in space that shortens the distance between the two doorways.

"A larger system is currently being developed for the Amaterasu and the other Alliance inter-galactic vessels to enable them to travel between galaxies. The Green Lantern Corp is especially interested in the technology.

"For me, the important thing is that I can now work at my company without sacrificing my time with my family." Clark smiled. "I'll take a few questions now, but most of the details we are releasing will be in your press packets."

The hands went up and the cacophony of noise began.

Clark pointed at a Japanese reporter in the front row.

"Minato Sahashi, Japanese Times. How long have you been working on this technology?"

"More than a year. It was soon after I took control of the company. I saw what they were capable of, I saw that there were far more technologically advanced people like the Green Lanterns and I knew they could do it. And they did."

Clark pointed to another reporter.

"Justin Morecombe, The Independent. What are the military applications of this device?"

Clark raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "The only way these devices should be used in war is to quickly and efficiently move injured soldiers from the battlefield.

"I am well aware that they could be used for military purposes, but so could a bread knife. This was not made to improve our abilities to wage war. It was made to make our lives more productive, to free up all those travel times.

"For me the _most_ important function of these devices is to be able to get food and medicine to third world countries."

The questions went on and on and Clark answered most of them happily. The actual technology was going to be classified. The devices would be sold by MBI directly but they were sealed in such away that if anybody tried to get inside then the components would be destroyed.

The reasoning for this was that Clark didn't want other people reverse engineering it for military purposes.

There was a celebratory party after the press release where many of the world leaders were invited. There was champagne and dancing, all in true Japanese style. People were dressed in suits and tuxedos as the ladies were dressed in elaborate gowns.

Clark was quickly confronted by his friends.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us about this!" Chloe pouted.

"All of the people working on the project were vetted by the Japanese and Korean governments. Harry put a Fidelius on the project as well. We didn't want any spies infiltrating our work. I was serious about this technology not being used for military purposes."

"Won't the scientists be at risk now though?"

"No, they are celebrities and they are all gifted with magic. There are also monitoring charms on them in case they get kidnapped."

"Does this mean we don't have to take the plane back to Smallville?" Jason asked.

Clark had made sure to give Lana a plus one invite for Jason.

"Of course not. There is one already set up in the castle that is linked to my office in MBI."

"You realise that you are now a high value target for oil and airline companies?" Laura asked as she walked up with the Cuckoos. "You have just destroyed their business."

"She's right, MBI's stock value has rocketed." Matsu confirmed as she accessed the net with her powers.

"Planes will still be needed." Clark shrugged. "Someone has to transport one doorway to its destination after all. But those companies were always doomed. The Earth saw to that long before I came along, there isn't an infinite supply of the stuff."

"Congratulations Clark, you got me into a lot of trouble with my shareholders." Bruce grumbled good-naturedly. "They want to know why I didn't use my friendship with you to get a piece of the action."

"Because you're a good man and that is why I work with you on other projects." Clark responded easily. "We won't be outsourcing the construction of the internal components but we can negotiate on things like the casing and the self destruct mechanism."

"I suppose that is something." He sighed as he sipped his champagne. "Are you planning on making a commercial or home version?"

"Eventually. There will be some simpler security features such as an actual door to prevent people hacking the OS and breaking into people's homes. It actually works just like a phone. Input the serial number of the destination door and it will attempt to connect. If the owner of the receiving door accepts then the connection is made and the person can step through."

"I never thought I would see this sort of thing in my lifetime." Bruce admitted.

"You've been in space. You fought aliens. You _befriended_ an alien!" Kyla hissed quietly.

"Did you ever imagine being an Amazon?" Bruce asked pointedly.

"It's always been different for people like Kyla and myself." Clark explained. "I have always had my abilities and Kyla was raised to learn how to shift her form to the wolf."

"Ah yes, my little wolf cub." Xander grinned as he strolled up with Miya on his arm. "We have a lot of fun running through the woods with the others."

"Others?" Bruce asked.

"The other members of Kyla's tribe, the Kawatche." Xander grinned. "Seems that I am once again the pinnacle of wolf-kind."

"Biggest freaking alpha of all time." Kyla muttered.

"Omega." Xander corrected. "Technically I am the wolf who is kicked out of the pack because he is too weak. The omega will become stronger because of this and possibly create his own pack."

"But you don't have a pack yet." Bruce pointed out.

"_We_ are his pack." Clark smiled. "Harry may be the highest recognised power known but Xander is the one who rules the family. Or have you not noticed that Miya is silently hanging onto his arm?"

"_That_ gets a bit annoying." Xander grumbled. "She's been my only decent source of conversation in the room till we came over here."

"I apolo-"

"Stop that!" Xander snapped in exasperation. "You can take out alien tri-pods with a mere slice of your sword. You defeated Ares with a skill and precision that not even Harry and Clark can come close to.

"But most importantly, you are an amazing young woman and my daughter-in-law." Xander looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "Why don't I ever get attention from your ladle?"

Miya's eyes went wide in horror at the thought.

"Xander, she has over twenty years of conditioning." Bruce pointed out gently. "Unless you become a threat to her family she will always treat you like that."

"More importantly, she deserves to be able to treat you like that." Laura added. "We all know that Clark prefers to know that Harry is above him in the pecking order, but Harry likes to know he has you to turn to."

Xander just pouted.

"Pitfalls of being the Omega?" Clark asked with a smirk.

"I really need to get a girlfriend." He sighed.

* * *

Lex Luthor was furious. He was pacing around his office with papers strewn around the room and his laptop a destroyed mess on the floor.

So to be more precise: Lex Luthor was throwing a temper tantrum.

"I see you just heard the news from Japan."

Lex spun to face the speaker at the door.

He immediately began to straighten his silk black shirt. "General. I didn't know you were coming."

General Lane gingerly made his way through the room, attempting not to stand on any papers as he took a seat in the chair.

"I wasn't planning on it, but after that spectacle in Japan, I thought we should confer." The sleeve with a missing arm was pinned to the shoulder.

"Confer on what?" Luthor scoffed. "I can't find an entry point into the project. There is no one to bribe, no one to interrogate and no one seems to know anything about it that isn't in the press packet.

"The most important development in Earth's scientific history and LuthorCorp can't even come close to duplicating it.

"It's insulting!"

"What if I could get you one of the 'doorways'?"

He immediately had Lex's attention. "Explain."

"I have become aware that tomorrow a set of doorways will be delivered to the US. I am currently working on getting hold of the itinerary but there are at least two. One for the Pentagon and one for the White House. A set is also due to reach the various Alliance embassies."

"You intend to steal one?" Lex asked curiously. "I suppose we could attempt to reverse engineer the product, but we may need more than one if the self-destruct features are as good as they claim."

"Then we just steal the replacement. And we continue to do so until we get it right."

"Or until they figure out who is involved and you get arrested."

"That won't be an issue." Lane said dismissively. "I have people who will kill themselves before they are compromised. This is important to re-securing America's security on the planet… in the universe."

"We will need a new base to work out of. Somewhere no one will find us. The device will need to be shielded so it can't be tracked. Especially during transport."

"I have just the place." The General said with superior smirk. "Best of all, it is right under their noses."

* * *

The election campaigns for the US government were in full swing. Elections would take place the following November, in the meantime the Alliance's interim government was making various changes as best they could. It wasn't easy as they met resistance from the military, but the Alliance was going for full transparency and held all meetings in open public forums so the people could see what was happening.

One hopeful Presidential candidate was forbidden from entering when he made political promises about leading a rebellion against the Alliance and attacking them. He was soon in a Japanese interrogation chamber.

Another was eliminated when he made disparaging comments about foreigners and the Alliance in particular.

Queen Amara was the spokes-person for the Alliance and she had made it quite clear that unless you had the best interests of every sentient life form then you had no place as a leader.

A fair few notorious leaders in the world upped their security as a result.

Themiscyra was finally offered a place in the UN. They declined; instead they offered membership into the Alliance. Japan and North Korea both withdrew from the international body. Future members were offered promises that if the asked for help they would get it as long as it was not harmful to the innocent. This included everything from food and medicine to troops for protection and liberation.

* * *

For the Smallville gang things began to return to normal. They managed at least a few days without incident. Clark would attend the cheerleading practices to support Chloe.

Lois would attend the cheerleading practices to mock Chloe.

"You know, you could be a little more supportive." Clark commented as he sat next to Lois in the stands with Kyla on his other side. For whatever reason she always seemed to sit next to him and not Kyla. He was fairly sure she liked to annoy him.

"I am being very supportive. I have been cheering for her the whole time."

"Yes, but it doesn't count when its sarcastic."

"Lighten' up Smallville. Chloe knows I am only teasing."

"Oh god!" Clark suddenly grasped his head in his hands painfully.

"Jeeze, don't be such a drama queen. I'll lay off." Lois rolled her eyes.

"Clark? What's wrong?" Kyla asked quickly.

"Another beacon. One of the stones." Clark gasped.

"Damn." Kyla muttered. She immediately sent out a distress call for Logan, Harry or Laura to accompany Clark.

"Take off kid. I've got a grip." Logan instructed as he held on tight around Clark's neck.

They vanished in a gust of wind.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Later Lois. You need to head home. The rest of us need to be prepared for whatever they find." Kyla instructed.

"Like hell. I'm coming with you!" Lois declared as she took a firm grip of Kyla's arm.

* * *

Logan had no idea where they were headed. All he could see was a blur of colour as Clark sped through the countryside and eventually a city.

When they came to a sudden stop Logan found himself on the floor of a prison public visitation room and Clark was locked in a light show of some kind as he struggled with Lionel Luthor as Lex Luthor watched from his position sprawled on the floor.

Eventually the light show that surrounded them passed and Lionel fell to the floor as Clark stumbled.

"What the hell was that kid?" Logan growled.

"Huh? What?" Clark asked slightly dazed.

"What did Luthor do to you?" He asked firmly, he ignored the prisoners and visitors; he already had Emma and Jean en route.

"I don't know… I"

"Logan, that's not me!" Lionel cried out as the guards began to haul him away for the fracas.

"The man is delusional." Clark said dismissively.

Logan was unsure.

"Ask him my age!"

"Hold it!" Logan barked at the guards.

"Logan, we don't have time for this." Clark sighed in frustration. "Let's just go."

Logan could tell there was something wrong. He had dealt with too many situations with shape shifters and body switchers. Clark wasn't quite himself. There was something in the voice. A touch of class that the farm boy never displayed even when out as Superman or as the owner of a multi-billion cooperation.

"How old are you, kid?" Logan asked suspiciously.

"Eighteen." Clark answered with a slight hesitation.

"I'm a whole lot older than that, Wolverine." Lionel called out from where he was restrained by the guards.

Logan began chuckling as he turned to 'Clark'. "Nice try _Lionel_ but you don't know a damned thing about Clark Kent." He called over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off the now clearly possessed Clark Kent's body. "Take 'Lionel' to solitary, make sure no one goes near him. Then get some guards and take 'Clark' here in for holding."

"I don't think so, _Logan._" 'Clark' snarled before throwing a haymaker that sent the Wolverine smashing through the wall of the room and into the exercise yard.

'Clark' looked down at his fist in awe of what he had done.

"That was not smart Lionel."

Lionel in Clark's body spun around to see Potter himself standing there.

"Surrender peacefully and I will painlessly destroy you. Fight, and I will see you spend eternity with the last man who crossed me. He is still being tormented in hell."

Lionel was absolutely amazed. Not only was his new body capable of impressive feats of strength but Potter actually had smoke and fire billowing from his mouth.

"I'm afraid I don't have time to deal with you today Potter my boy. I have a company to reclaim and a son to spank." Lionel said condescendingly.

He began to run at Harry to move in closer and punch him when he suddenly realised that the world seemed to have slowed down to a crawl. He decided to ignore this fact for a moment in favour of putting all his might in the right hook that turned Harry Potter into a stain on the prison wall.

Lionel turned and began to walk out of the building when he felt immense pain and fell to his knees.

"No Lionel. You are about to have a _lot_ of time."

Lionel painfully raised his head to see Batman walking towards him holding a piece of Kryptonite.

"You've crossed so many lines today that nothing can save you." Batman said as behind him various beings began to appear in unusual clothes, each brandishing some form of weapon. "These are the gods. They are bound by laws older than mankind that say when Death is attacked, they must intervene.

"And Harry Potter is Death."

Lionel wasn't sure where these people were coming from and he didn't know what exactly they knew about the abilities of Clark Kent's stolen body. But he knew he could run.

Fighting through the crippling pain he began to move away until it was enough for him to stagger and start running.

But then the pain increased along with a sharp pain in his shoulder that made him scream out in agony.

He never saw the bolt of red light that knocked him out.

* * *

"This bastard is all mine." Harry growled as the assembled deities and castle residents glared at the unconscious form of Lionel Luthor in Clark's body.

"For the record, this is much creepier than having Harry impersonating me." Clark muttered from Harry's side. He was in a brand new body as he had no desire of going back into anything Lionel had tainted. His girlfriends agreed.

"Are you going to kill-"

"No!" Harry growled angrily as he interrupted the Flash causing him to take a step back at the venom in the man's voice. "No." Harry repeated as he calmed himself. "He gets the pleasure of joining Minaka."

"An attack on Death's Apprentice is an attack on Death himself." Aphrodite repeated what she had told Clark long ago.

Clark wanted to object to someone being tortured because of him, but he knew this was more to do with Harry. This was not the time for the Apprentice to argue with the Master.

Clark wanted someone else to have his justice as well. He was going to ask Harry to call them but he decided to see just how much he could do.

"Lex? What are you doing on this side?"

Harry's surprised voice broke Clark's concentration.

"It worked?" He looked up to see the ethereal form of Lex Luthor standing there.

"Your Apprentice seems to be getting more powerful if he can call the dead from the after life." Lex smirked. There was a hint of pride there.

Harry rolled his eyes scoffingly. "He surpassed Apprentice years ago. He's pretty much my right hand now."

"That's your way of saying I do all the work, right?" Clark asked with a raised brow.

"Ok, this is really creepy." The Flash commented. "Lex Luthor without the sneer."

"Why did you summon Lex?" Kyla asked as she noticed Helen looking at her departed fiancée longingly. The look was returned in equal measure.

"He deserves justice." Clark said evenly.

"Hmm." Harry mused as he watched Helen, Tess and Lex talk in a quiet corner. "Methinks Lionel could add an extra kick in the happy sacks."

"God you're gross." Kyla shuddered.

"What exactly did you do to Jeremiah Holdsclaw?" Harry countered.

"He deserved it." She said petulantly. "And at least I don't talk about it."

* * *

Lionel Luthor woke up and immediately and knew he was in his own body. He could feel the sickness that had plagued him.

Surrounding him were an array of people, he briefly remembered them from the prison where he stole the Kent boy's body.

"Potter." He spat. "When the authorities find you maybe they'll put you in the cell next to mine."

"Lionel, the authorities may find me, but they could never hold me." Harry smirked. "And my friends here wouldn't let them."

"Lionel Luthor, for your crimes against the Aspect of Death, known as Harry Potter and his Apprentice and brother, Kal-El the God of Thunder, known as Clark Kent, you are sentenced to imprisonment and torture until this realm ceases to exist." A figure in a cloak holding a lightsabre rasped.

"Before you are shipped off though, I want you to witness something." Harry said. "This is the spirit of your murdered son." He indicated the ethereal form of Lex.

"Hello father." Lex said snidely. "How does it feel to have been betrayed by the clone you used to kill me?"

"What sort of trick is this?" Lionel demanded.

"Lex, hop in. This is a gift to my Apprentice for all his achievements. He deserves to have all the family he can." Harry said as he indicated the new body being levitated out by Lorna.

Behind Lex, Helen broke down in tears of happiness as Tess hugged her.

Lex was in shock. He thought he was just here to witness Lionel's judgement.

"Come on, we don't have all day!" Harry chided.

Clark tentatively pushed Lex. He was pleasantly surprised when he actually made contact.

Everyone else was shocked.

"Is Clark becoming your equal?" Matsu asked in awe.

"No child." Odin said quietly. "But by Death's choice, Kal-El is his brother and Apprentice. And we have heard him now declare him the Right Hand of Death."

"What will separate Clark from Harry, ability wise?" Chloe asked.

"My guess is that other not being able to do anything I don't agree with… he will never hear the voices." Harry said quietly.

"Voices… what voices?" Kyla asked worriedly.

"The voices of the dead and dying." The Cuckoos said as one. "We cannot hear them, but we know that Harry does. They drain him. They constantly call for him and beg for his attention."

"That's enough girls." Jean said firmly.

"Oh my god!" Lana gasped. "You're talking about everyone in every reality, dimension and universe."

"Its not that big a deal." Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I just try and find ways of distracting myself."

"Like throwing people off towers." Clark grumbled.

"Lord Odin, did you know this?" Lana asked the Norse king.

"We did not. I do not even know if my counterpart in his children's world knew."

"He did." Loki's voice nearly a whisper. "Father would occasionally be found inebriated after Harry left us in our youth to return to our future. It was practically the only thing my younger male self did that was good and honourable when he would tend to Father. Father would tell him the horrible things that Harry had confided in him. I think he hoped that it would make him more responsible.

"Loki may have been evil but he never lost respect for you Uncle."

"I know sweetheart. You're father told me how you were there for him, even in this form."

"Ok, enough maudlin stuff." Xander shuddered. "You girls can go and take my son and defile him later. It's no different to Clark being able to hear all the crime in the city and the victims."

"By the goddess!" Yume gasped as Clark's Sekirei looked horrified at this news.

"You can really hear them all?" Musubi asked as she grasped her Ashikabi's arm.

"I ignore them when I can." Clark assured her.

"Nice work." Logan muttered quietly to Xander.

"One day I'll learn to shut my big mouth." Xander sighed. "Would one of my two Death sons please deal with Lex so we can finish with Lionel?"

"Right." Harry grabbed Lex's soul and jammed him in the body.

The newly corporeal Lex gasped in air and sat up. "Oh god… I'm flashing back to that bridge."

"Except there is no pretty brunette giving you mouth to mouth." Clark grinned. "Helen, you're up."

The young doctor wasted no time before she was attached to Lex and completely oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Right, next up we need one last person before we finish dealing with Lionel." Harry clapped his hands. "I'll be right back."

The rest of the assembled group stood there awkwardly as Lex and Helen continued to kiss passionately.

People started checking their watches.

"Ok, she's an Amazon, but how is Lex doing that without breathing?" Dani asked in exasperation.

"Dedication?" Xander offered.

He took an involuntary step back at the glares.

"So… how's that 'keeping your mouth shut' deal working out?" Neville smirked.

Xander just sulked. "Shut up Green Thumb."

Neville face palmed.

"Here he is." Harry announced as he arrived in tow with the Lex-Clone… plus one.

"Dad?!" Lois exclaimed. "What the hell?"

"He and the clone were having a little pow-wow. Thought we might start making in roads into the military." Harry informed them.

"You were hanging out with Lex Luthor?" She asked in disgust.

"When the UN hears about your secret Potter you won't have a place to hide." General Lane snapped at Harry, ignoring his daughter.

"First of all, you are assuming you will be able to tell the UN about me. Second, I'm hoping there is some good sense in you so that you won't _want_ to tell my secrets." Harry said dismissively. "Now, be quiet and stand with your daughter. I need to deal with this sad excuse for a clone."

The clone immediately fell into a combative position and started to attack Harry. He fell to the ground in a heap seconds later as Clark flicked him in the back of the head crushing his skull. His hand then snapped out as if grasping something.

"You can see them now?" Harry asked.

"No, just the same feeling I get." Clark said.

"Do you think you could destroy him?"

Clark concentrated for a moment. "Yes. I could."

"Give it a shot then."

"No. Just because I can do something doesn't mean I should do it. Unless you are unavailable I will never destroy a soul."

"A wise path." Odin agreed.

"I am pleased with my daughter's choice." Zeus added with a broad smile.

Harry reached out and everyone gasped as they saw the pitch black and almost demonic looking soul of the clone. It was missing what would pass for skin, as though it had been burnt off. Clark was absently rubbing his hands on his jeans.

"This is what you have been consorting with, General." Harry turned to the one-armed man. "A poor attempt at a clone that immediately turned on its creator and killed its originator. Lois a little demonstration please?"

Lois hesitantly stepped forward helped by a little shove from Chloe and Kyla who just tried to look innocent.

"This won't hurt a bit."

Before Lois could protest she was staring down at her crumpled body.

"Looking good Lois." Kyla smirked.

Lois looked down and realised that she was naked.

Hands instantly snapped into position as she turned to the Aspect grasping her shoulder.

She began yelling at Harry, not that the others could hear her.

"Why is my daughter naked?" General Lane demanded.

"It's a little payback Uncle Sam." Chloe spoke up. "She walked into the boys locker room and didn't even announce herself. Coach Summers had to put in new security. Apparently the honour system doesn't mean much to Lois Lane."

"Its not the first time." He sighed.

"Sounds like a story worth telling." Xander said with an amused look.

"Tell it later." Harry interrupted. "Now, as you can see, Lex Luthor, the clone has the most disgusting looking soul on the planet. Your daughter has a healthy looking soul."

"Now _that's_ a surprise." Clark muttered to Dani who laughed.

"Goddess, is love really supposed to be _this_ blind?" Lana asked Aphrodite with exasperation.

"No daughter. But this is not blindness. This is denial." She explained sadly.

Lois however was preoccupied with her soul. She was attempting to poke at something without losing her modesty… which isn't easy when you're a naked woman with only two hands in a room filled with men and women you barely know.

Giving up in her attempt she turned to Harry and began demanding answers.

"…"

"Yes, you have an extra bit and no, before you ask it is not a penis."

The look on Lois' face almost made him take a step back.

"…"

"I'm sorry! But after all the crap you pull in this town it's hard to know what you'll do or say next. You've nearly had more mishaps in three months than Lana has in the years I've known her."

"Hey!"

"…"

"Unfortunately its only a very slight exaggeration." Harry snorted.

"What are they arguing about?" Clark wondered quietly.

"They are discussing the soul bond you and Lois share, husband." Tsukiumi stated, not realising that her Ashikabi had no idea what she was talking about.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Clark said as he stepped forward. "Are you saying I have a soul bond with Lois? Is this one of you practical jokes? Did you put him up to this?" He glared at Xander.

"As much as I wish I _had_ been party to this, I was not. This was all you. Take a look for yourself."

Sure enough there was a strong link going from Lois to Clark.

Clark paled. "This wasn't there when we dealt with the Terminator boy." He argued.

"It is a natural bond." Harry shrugged. "I could see it and Aphrodite could sense the potential, just like when you first met Kyla. Now it has actually connected."

"Could you please put my daughter… in her body? I would rather not have to deal with her running around naked." General Lane nearly begged. "Not to mention all the strangers staring at her."

"You, get in your body." Harry ordered as he gently pushed Lois down.

"Anyway, as for this piece of filth…" He started to destroy the clone's soul. "Would one of you Gods of the Underworld please stick Lionel in the same cell as Minaka. He will serve as an example of what happens to those who attack my Apprentice."

Hel of the Norse underworld stepped forward and grabbed the protesting human before vanishing. She was an ugly hag who was blue down one side.

"You really need to do better with people." Harry warned Odin. Harry had investigated the Norse in this universe and the story of Odin banishing Hel for being ugly was true. In his children's world he had been present at the birth of Hel and had healed the ailments that made her so ugly.

Odin just bowed his head stiffly, unwilling to argue with the Aspect but not able to easily change. He and the other gods quickly departed though.

Whilst Harry was doing this Lois wobbly picked herself off the floor and stumbled over to Chloe and her dad. "I was dead… right?"

"You get used to it after a while." Lana sighed.

"When did you die?" Kyla asked slightly angry that something bad had happened to her sister.

"Harry keeps pulling me out of my body so he can examine my soul. He is still trying to find a way to clean my soul so I don't need a bond."

Kyla scoffed dismissively. "I don't see what the big deal is. Have him cut it out and bond you to me and Chloe. If that's not enough then I doubt Helen and Tess would object, not to mention the hundreds of sisters back on the island."

"I know, but I think Harry is enjoying the challenge." Lana smiled in amusement at the thought. "He's always cursing away when something doesn't work and he always begs for more time. Jean doesn't think she has ever seen him happier.

"If it becomes necessary I'll ask him to join us together. Maybe he could join the whole tribe together anyway. It would be wonderful to have that extra closeness." She mused.

Un-noticed behind them, Aphrodite smiled proudly with Athena and Artemis. Her Amazons were becoming what she truly envisioned them to be.

Harry, Lex and the General were having a very intense discussion meanwhile.

"You're telling me that not only did Luthor manage to clone his son, but he also let it kill his son?" Lane asked disbelievingly.

"Let? He didn't let it. He gave it the gun and the instruction. The only part Lionel wasn't party to was killing Lucas." Lex explained. Helen was still stuck to his side and refused to let go. Tess had taken up a position as his guard. "I remember watching the clone shoot Lucas and shocking Lionel before mother came to get me."

"Mother?" Helen asked.

"My mother came to me when I died. She is the one who helped me to the other side."

"Joyce did the same for me." Xander nodded. "I did it for my wives and children when they died. It's a sort of tradition."

"I wonder why no one came for Gabe." Tess mused.

"Because he is an orphan and the only people he calls family are Chloe and Moira." Harry said dismissively. "He was in an orphanage as a baby."

"Why won't you reveal yourselves to the government?" Lane asked, changing the subject.

"Because most of the American people aren't ready for people like the gods, they definitely aren't ready to know that Death walks amongst them."

"And Magic." Xander added.

"The Japanese, North Korean and Themiscyran governments are aware." Harry explained.

"But why not the rest of the world?" Lane argued.

"Because I am the ruler of North Korea. My wife is the ruler of Themiscyra and the gods of Japan are already respected by their people." Harry answered. "No one in those countries would dare think of leaking private information and yet none of them fear us."

"General, if we told the world about magic and gods, what would the people do?" Lex posited. "The general population?"

The General paused in thought. "I don't like it. But I do see your point."

"The people of Earth have just gotten used to the fact that there are aliens out there." Harry said. "They are still trying to balance the fact that there are good aliens with the fact that there are bad aliens. They need some time before they are forced to deal with Gods and Aspects."

"Will you at least be informing the newly elected administration?"

"Of course." Harry grinned. "We need to give them a reason not to get out of line like the last bunch."


	58. Chapter 58

Clark Kent was actually enjoying his life. He would never admit this, but he enjoyed hearing reports from head scientists and managers on various aspects of MBI. He felt that he was really contributing to society when he took briefings with his Sekirei teams.

He actually enjoyed being a billionaire businessman.

Bruce was not so pleased with him as he didn't consider Clark a true billionaire. Clark refused to buy expensive cars he didn't need or spend months on a boat with beautiful women. Clark was giving billionaires everywhere a bad name.

What Bruce didn't realise was that now that Lex was back the bald-headed billionaire was actually instigating a coup with Kyla and Martha to get Clark a ridiculously sized yacht so he could spend the summer after Kyla graduated sailing the oceans with his wives.

What Lex didn't know was that Clark had some of his scientists working on clean engines and the prototype was a ridiculously sized yacht that was a gift to his wives that they would hopefully use on his and Kyla's honeymoon. Once he proposed of course.

One of the other things Clark enjoyed about his life (other than sleeping each night with several beautiful women) was doing simple farm work. The Kent farm was immense these days. Far more than Martha, Jonathan and Clark could handle. Amara spent as much time as she could on the farm as did Dani, but both had duties elsewhere. Amara had decided to grant the request of her subjects and the farm was now staffed by several Amazon farmhands who loyally served the Lord Regent in the name of their goddess.

It was whilst he was moving some bales of hay that Clark received an unexpected yet pleasant visit.

"Greetings Brother!" Came the booming voice that nearly had him toss the bale in his hands through the roof of the barn.

"Baldur? And Thor!" Clark smiled as he saw his Asgardian brother holding the two-year-old princess of Asgard.

Clark dropped his bale of hay and quickly moved over to grab the giggling little girl. "What brings you here?"

"Our sister needs to have plenty of experiences if she is to be as wise as Father. What better place than with her other brother and the various cultures he deals with?" Baldur explained with a smile.

"You intend to stay, for a while?" Clark asked with a smile.

"Not myself personally. Father has been visiting with the Aesir of Lady Loki's world. He has learnt much and wishes me to become more involved in the affairs of Asgardian politics." He said with a scowl.

"Rather you than me." Clark smirked.

Baldur simply returned the smirk. "I did ask Father if he wanted you to learn with me, but he said that what you learn with Lord Death will bring flavour to our way of life."

"Ah, Clark. I have been looking for you." Came an imperious voice.

For a moment Clark thought Hippolyta was back. But Harry and Aphrodite had de-aged her to a baby to be adopted in the mortal world. She was watched and monitored to ensure her safety but she would not be approached by the Amazons until she was an adult of at least eighteen.

Clark smiled as he saw Lana walk in. She was dressed in an all black outfit that was very flattering. "Lana? Got a date with- who the hell are you?" Clark demanded as he handed baby Thor back to Baldur who immediately took a few steps back to protect their sister. Clark knew Lana's soul and it was not in control of her body.

"Lana Lang of course… I see there is no fooling you, is there." Lana suddenly smirked as she cocked a hip. "I was going to have so much fun seducing you. Did you know this body is still a virgin! I know you are too which is why I wanted some of your hairs."

"Who are you?" Clark asked again, his anger was plain to see.

"Oh well, we can do this the hard way." She sighed. "I will so enjoy having you as my personal slave."

"Baldur, take Thor and leave." Clark ordered as he waved a hand at the two sending them to the castle.

"What's this? You have magic in you?" Lana asked in happy awe. "How did you manage to keep this from the girl?"

Clark wasn't sure what was going on but he decided the best course of action was to knock out Lana and get her to Harry. The only thing he knew for certain was that there was a foreign soul in Lana's body.

Clark moved at super speed and closed in to try and knock Lana out but he hit an invisible barrier that sent him flying backwards.

"Not just magic but exceptional speed and strength too! You will be my warrior slave." Lana declared with a pleased smile.

Clark picked himself up off the ground and walked calmly towards Lana, as he got within arms length he pulled out his hammer and called down lightning.

They were still in the barn and the bolt smashed through the wooden roof and lit up the dome like shield that surrounded Lana Lang.

"What _are _you?" Lana asked with anger and awe as she began to feel the strain of keeping the shield up.

Clark just kept up the stream of lightning, ignoring everything including Harry and Brunhilde who had also arrived.

"Any ideas, Husband?" Brunhilde asked as she carefully scrutinised the shield that was preventing Clark from getting at Lana.

"Yes… but I _really_ don't want to try any of them." Harry said worriedly.

"It would kill Lana?"

"No… it's just that Clark's lightning hurts just as bad as Phoenix fire."

There was a slight flicker in the shield and Clark moved in a blur as his fist reared back before crashing into the shield and shattering it. The blast that resulted sent both and he and Lana flying backwards in opposite directions.

Brunhilde darted forward to grab and restrain Lana before she could regain her senses. Harry saw Clark was already picking himself up so he focused on Lana.

He walked towards the dazed girl and began slapping her lightly round the face. "Wakey, wakey!" He cooed.

"Nggg." Lana shook her head with her eyes still closed as she tried to avoid Harry's hand. Then her eyes snapped open and she saw the man attacking her. "Get off me you curr! And you, release me you harlot!" She snapped at Brunhilde.

"So, what's your name?" Harry asked calmly.

"Lana Lang you imbecile."

"Here's the thing; I can see souls. I know Lana's soul and I can see her soul in there. But I can also see your soul. So lets try again and maybe I won't be too cruel when I crush your soul." Harry offered.

"Bah! I've heard men claim to have great power before. None have been able to withstand my might." She said arrogantly.

"We're going to have to do this the hard way, aren't we?" Harry asked his wife with a sigh.

"Her name is Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux." Emma announced as she strolled up with Jean, Chloe and the Cuckoos. "Judging by her memories she is from some time in the medieval period. She was burned at the stake- and she has thrown up a mental shield." Emma sighed. "Give us a moment to try and crack it."

"Let me try." Chloe demanded angrily as she stomped up to the newly name Isobel. "Where is Lana Lang?"

"She is still here. I have suppressed her spirit." Isobel was shocked when her mouth betrayed her. "What are you people?"

"The last people you will ever see." Chloe hissed. "Anyone got any questions?"

"How did she take over Lana's body?" Amara asked as she joined them with Diana. She was not going to be absent whilst her subject was in peril.

Diana walked up and placed her lasso around Isobel before tightening it and aiding Brunhilde in restraining her. She nodded gratefully to Chloe who took a place behind Amara respectfully.

"Answer the Queen's question." Diana ordered. "How did you take over Lana Lang's body?"

"I stored my soul in my spell book. I used my magic to divine the future and saw that one of my descendants would visit my tomb. I cast a spell that when she came into close enough contact with my body she would be marked and she would activate my spell book allowing me to take over her body."

"Merlin's hairy balls it's another bloody horcrux hunt."

Everyone turned to see an exasperated and ranting Neville and grinning Xander standing there.

"Are you going to pull another 'Dobby'?" Xander asked as the usually calm Neville continued to rant to himself.

"What's a Dobby?" Chloe asked.

"My dear son once had to deal with a bastard who also split his soul into multiple parts. He used ancient and valuable objects to store them in. It was an ego thing." He explained. "Harry transferred the soul pieces to… bits of garbage, including the soiled garments of a friend that were worn when he was a slave."

"Harry enjoys insulting and degrading people of a certain nature." Neville added with a resigned sigh.

"Remind me to show you the archive footage of some of Harry's actions back home." Amara smirked.

"Well, you don't need to worry. First I won't be transferring this one because I will be destroying it. Second, I can destroy it because the full soul is in here. That is probably the only reason Lana couldn't prevent the possession."

"You can easily stop me! I am defeatable!" Isobel declared proudly before frowning. "I did not mean to say that."

The others looked at each other curiously.

"Oh! Princess Diana's lasso is still around her." Chloe giggled.

"I like this. This is the kind of bad-guy rant I could get used to." Xander grinned.

"Well my dear, I am about to prove you right." Harry chuckled as he turned to the bound Isobel.

"No! I do not want to die!"

Isobel's cries were ignored as Harry simply cast the killing curse causing the body to slump.

"Ok, a little slice here… Chloe, you still up for the bond?" Harry called out without looking up from where he was working on separating Lana from Isobel.

"Ready and willing. Kyla wanted in on this too… of course so do all the other Amazons." Chloe muttered the last part to herself.

Xander had once referred to the Amazons as the biggest bunch of Hufflepuffs he had ever met. He got a kick in the shin from Kyla before Neville explained what a Hufflepuff was. Then he received a kiss on the cheek from nearly every Amazon he met. Which was pretty much all of them as Aphrodite had him working as their trainer in tactics and bringing them up to speed on slang and other things they needed to know so they didn't immediately castrate the first male they thought was insulting, threatening or demanding something.

"Alright, let me just deal with Isobel." Harry told the young Phoenix.

Clark meanwhile had walked up and was looking carefully at where he could sense Lana's soul.

He reached out a hand, closed his eyes and focused.

"Erm… we'll be outside." Xander said slightly uncomfortably. He and Neville quickly exited the barn.

Clark looked up and saw that Lana was now visible.

Also… naked.

He quickly removed his hand not wanting to risk the girl's ire.

"Clark, put that hand back." Harry barked.

Clark knew better than to argue so he closed his eyes and put his hand out again.

"Why exactly am I doing this?" Clark asked.

"Because Lana is in a fair bit of pain and what you are doing is relieving it for her. Just keep doing it until I have her and Chloe hooked up." Harry instructed.

"Understood."

Amara and Diana stepped up to hold Chloe's body steady whilst Harry pulled her soul out and walked her and Lana through the joining process.

Brunhilde had destroyed Lana's body as she figured that like Clark, she had no desire to be in a body that had been used by someone else.

In short order Harry had a new body ready and Lana's newly joined soul was seated inside.

"Something's wrong!" Chloe nearly shouted. "She's still in pain."

"How much of her soul did you take? Does she need another bond?" Amara asked worriedly.

Amara and Chloe where hugging a sobbing Lana and trying to comfort her.

"Hook me up." Kyla demanded as she teleported in. "Clark, hold my body."

Harry didn't bother arguing or making funny comments. He'd seen too many souls in pain and his recent experiences with Minaka were enough for him to give this his full attention.

He worked quickly to join the two Amazons.

"Better." Chloe nodded, still frowning as they held Lana who was no longer sobbing, just sniffling. "But if we could get someone else…"

"I have an idea." Kyla said as she teleported out.

She returned seconds later with Yume. "Kiss him hard." She instructed.

Clark didn't have a chance to react as Yume pounced on him, kissing him passionately and lighting the room up with her wings.

"There it is." Chloe smiled as she felt Lana's pain vanish and the wash of power and love sweep over them both.

"What happened?" Diana asked. "How did Yume's kiss affect Lana?"

"Lana is bonded to Kyla who is bonded to Clark." Harry explained with a wry smile. "Clark has bonded fully with his Sekirei so the exchange of love and power goes both ways. Yume and Clark's power went through Clark's bond with Kyla and into Lana."

"I love it when he kisses the Sekirei." Kyla grinned.

"I can see why." Chloe said as a blush stained her cheeks as the physical effects became apparent to her. "But will this fade? Will Lana need… extra doses?"

"Probably." Kyla nodded. "But Clark has lots of Sekirei and they all like to kiss him. Class can be very difficult to focus on."

"Whoa… they're still going?" Chloe laughed as she noticed Yume attached to Clark's lips.

"Yeah… the only thing that can get a Sekirei off Clark is another Sekirei." Kyla shook her head. "Hey! You two! Save it for later." Kyla shouted.

Clark was blushing as he broke away from Yume who just pouted.

"Since when are you a Sekirei?" Chloe asked.

"Well, it's just easier to refer to me and Aphrodite as one of Clark's Sekirei. It also works in public as code."

"Will Lana be alright?" Diana asked Harry.

Amara had put her to sleep as she held the girl.

"She will need some time to adjust, but she should be good." Harry assured her.

"What should we do about Jason?" Kyla asked.

"He witnessed some of Lana's unusual behaviour as Isobel." Emma informed them. "We were able to get a full download of Isobel's memories which I believe the girls have stored in Harry's mind?" She asked the Cuckoos.

"An entire download was completed." Phoebe confirmed.

"We have made a note of all her actions since she possessed Lana." Celeste added.

"And we know that she was searching for the stones that Clark needs." Mindee finished.

"Wow… your people really got around Clark." Chloe remarked. "First Naman and now these stones."

"What can I say? We were a very generous people." Clark grinned.

* * *

When Lana woke up she was not surprised to feel like utter crap. Nor was she surprised to find herself in the castle hospital wing.

She _was_ surprised to see a smug Jason Teague smiling down at her.

"So… a witch huh?"

"And an Amazon." She muttered hoarsely. "Water."

Jason obliged by handing her the cup that had been placed nearby for her.

"How much do you know?" She asked warily.

"Clark said to tell you I know Death. He said that would convince you that you don't need to worry about keeping things from me."

"It wouldn't matter." Lana said with a dismissive wave as she shuffled so she was partially sitting. "There are charms on us to prevent people revealing our secrets and there are telepaths who can just remove the knowledge."

"Telepaths." Jason's eyes were wide in fear.

Lana smirked at him over the rim of her cup as she took a sip. "You were just wondering who they were and if they heard all your naughty thoughts, weren't you?"

"Erm… I plead the fifth?"

"Telepaths Jason. The fifth doesn't mean anything to them. And that doesn't even count the one of us who can make you tell the truth just by asking questions."

"I… I feel violated." Jason gasped.

Lana could tell he was about to milk this for all it was worth. "They don't read minds all the time and they never invade someone's privacy.

"I think I finally understand what Clark is always complaining about." She frowned.

"_He's_ a telepath?"

Lana shook her head as she put her cup down. "No, he has x-ray vision. But every time a woman finds out she immediately covers her breasts, as if they would assume he abuses the ability… of course he now takes pleasure in reminding them that covering themselves with their hands wouldn't help."

"Has he ever looked at you?" He asked with a hint of jealousy.

"Focus Jason."

"That's not a no!"

"I don't think so, but he has seen most of me naked. At least once on accident and once when he was consulting on something… that reminds me." She conjured a mirror and handed it Jason. "Hold that so I can see my lower back." She instructed as she pulled up the loose white t-shirt someone had put her in. She assumed it was Jean as she was also wearing sleep pants.

Jason was not going to complain about this task.

"Are you drooling, Mr. Teague?" Jean asked dryly as she walked over.

"What! No!" Jason said hastily as quickly withdrew the mirror.

Lana growled in annoyance before grabbing the mirror and handing it to Jean.

Jean simply touched a hand to Lana's temple whilst gazing at Lana's back.

"Thank the Goddess." Lana sighed as she saw her back was clear of tattoos through Jean's eyes.

"Harry had to take a good chunk of your soul out in order to fully excise Isobel."

"Isobel is the crazy chick who possessed Lana, right?" Jason asked. He was still trying to get used to the idea that the sixteen-year-old looking red head was actually thousands of years old.

"Correct. Do you remember what happened after that?" Jean asked Lana.

"No, but I can't imagine it was pleasant." Lana grimaced.

"It was not." Jean stated seriously. "You were in a lot of pain and Harry has removed the memories so you don't have to suffer. Chloe has some insight into what you were feeling as she was bound to you but you were still in pain."

"I'm not feeling one hundred percent right now." She admitted as she rubbed her chest.

"One second." Jean instructed as she closed her eyes.

Lana suddenly flushed red and fell back against the bed gasping.

"Lana!" Jason cried as he quickly leant over her.

"She's fine Jason." Jean smirked.

"What the hell did you guys do to me?" Lana asked breathlessly.

"Do you feel any better?" Jean asked ignoring the question for the moment.

"Yeah… I do." She frowned as she rubbed her chest experimentally. "I'm going to be needing a lot of personal breaks if that is what will cure my soul." She muttered.

"Kyla was insistent that she be the second soul donor." Jean explained. "When Chloe realised it still wasn't enough Kyla had Yume kiss Clark. The special power from the Sekirei bond transferred from Clark to Kyla to you and improved your condition."

"Is this going to happen _every time_ they kiss?" Lana asked worriedly.

"Every time he kisses one of the Sekirei. We aren't sure what will happen when he kisses Aphrodite though."

"Wasn't there anyone else you could have bonded me to?" Lana asked desperately.

"It was a decision based on love and logic."

Lana immediately tried to get to her feet respectfully as Aphrodite joined them.

"Relax Lana. You are still recovering." Aphrodite admonished lightly as she gently pushed her Amazon back on the bed.

"Love and logic?" Lana asked.

"You know how much your sisters love you. They would never have allowed any one but an Amazon to bond with you without your permission. They would never have trusted anyone else, not even Death himself."

"I know. Kyla and Chloe discussed this with me and I know Tess and Helen agreed with them." Lana nodded.

"Yes, they have shown themselves as true Amazons and they hold a lot of respect back on the island now.

"As for logic, none of your Smallville sisters could bear the thought of joining you with a sister from the island."

Lana frowned. It sounded like they didn't trust the Themiscyran Amazons.

"You have dated three men Lana. Many of my Amazons fear men still. They still fear Lord Death and my husband… their god. Only the Lord Regent is truly loved.

"It will be years before they are ready to trust a man, even more before they trust a random man from the world.

"But they didn't want to deny you the opportunity to have the love of a man and so Kyla was chosen."

"Wh-"

"_Ask about Tess later, Lana. It is private and Jason is still here."_ Jean interrupted her telepathically.

"I hate to be the selfish one here but what does this mean for me and Lana?" Jason asked, sensing a break in the conversation.

"Not a lot." Jean shrugged. "The soul bonds themselves won't make much of a difference for Lana but _you_ need to realise that Lana and her fellow sisters are a very tight-nit group. You will never come between them."

"In addition you need to realise that Clark is her god. Any order he gives an Amazon will be followed without question as though the order came from myself." Aphrodite added.

"So… I need to check my jealousy at the door." Jason muttered half to himself.

"What about this deal with Clark kissing his Sekirei? How am I going to deal with that?" Lana asked.

"I'm here! I have a solution!"

They all turned to see Jodie and Harry walking in.

"Greetings daughter." Aphrodite smiled at the young woman.

"My goddess." Jodie bowed low.

"Daughter? You're one of us now?" Lana asked with a bright smile.

"I heard what had happened to you. I offered to be one of your soul mates but Kyla and the others said that the Amazons wouldn't let anyone other than an Amazon bond with you. They also explained the whole fear of man thing. So I asked Clark for permission to join the Amazons and I asked Harry if he could arrange for me to come back in time so you didn't have to wait." She explained.

"_You_ are definitely an Amazon." Jean chuckled.

"But you can't separate Kyla from me without damaging Kyla." Lana protested.

"No, and I won't." Harry assured her. "But Kyla can stop the flow of power to you just like you can block it. It will just take practice."

"Are you sure?" She asked. The burst of power she had received when Clark had kissed his Sekirei earlier was very intense.

"Lana, you know each and everyone of Clark's Sekirei. Do you honestly believe they have been refraining from kissing him?" Harry grinned mischievously. "Kyla has been protecting you unless she could feel you were in pain."

"Oh." Lana was a little stunned by that revelation. There had been a _lot_ of power involved.

"Now, shall we get you and Jodie linked up?" Harry asked.

"You! Out!" Lana ordered Jason sharply.

"Me? What did I do?"

"It's more about what Harry is about to do." Jean explained. "Her soul is about to be visible and souls are generally naked."

"Oh." Jason frowned. "Are you _sure_ I can't stay?"

"OUT!" Lana shouted.

* * *

Harry, Clark, Neville and Xander were in an unused classroom in the castle standing around the spell book that had caused the days drama. Lana had told them how she had been researching Isobel and spent most of her money to get the book on eBay.

"You will never find a more wretched book of scum an-"

"Really Harry? Star Wars?" Neville smirked.

"It seemed appropriate." Harry shrugged.

"Its never appropriate Harry. People are just too worried about telling you otherwise." Clark remarked dryly.

"You do."

"As far as I am aware the only person still alive who has spent more than fifty years alone with you is Jean. She calls you on it too. I'm sure you can figure out the pattern."

"Those years don't count. You kept going off on your little trips to find Krypton." Harry said dismissively.

"And I barely survived as I came back everyday. Makes me wonder how Jean did."

"Sex." Neville said simply. "Lots and lots of sex."

"Moving on." Clark sighed. "I can feel two more souls in this book."

"Is that even possible?" Xander asked. "To put two souls in one object?"

"Oh yeah." Harry nodded. "I've even seen it happen in people. Take Yume for instance. She stored her soul in Musubi's body to boost Musubi's soul."

"Weird." Xander muttered.

"You're not the one who ended up with two Sekirei for the price of one." Clark joked. "But back to the book; I am not sure but I don't think these feel like good souls."

Harry frowned. "In what way are you not sure? These souls are as black as Isobel's."

"I'm not sure because I have pre-conceptions that anyone associated with Isobel is probably rotten to the core."

"You need a blind test." Neville nodded.

"That's what I was thinking."

"Alright, we'll see what comes up." Harry agreed. "For now, I want you to attempt to destroy the two souls in the book."

"You know I don't want to be involved in that. It wouldn't be right." Clark said as he turned to face his Master and brother.

"You also agreed you would do it if I wasn't around. Better for you to get some practise in with me here and with my full blessing." Harry insisted.

"Alright, but only if you are present or incapacitated. Any other condition and I'll keep the soul secure until you can deal with it."

"What are you gonna do? Stand around with your hand holding invisible people?" Harry scoffed.

"Actually, he might not have to." Xander interrupted with a raised finger. "We already know that Clark has learnt to call people from the other side. He can do the same thing and call souls to guard the soul for him."

"They won't be able to stay long though. Eventually they would need to return and there is no telling if Harry would be available before then." Neville pointed out.

"No, but they can switch out with other souls." Xander assured them. "You seem to forget that the after life would do anything for Harry. They will give the same courtesy to Clark as his Apprentice and especially as the man who now aids Harry in keeping the afterlife clear of bad souls."

"Well… so we have a plan. Now we just need Clark to practise. Get on with it." Harry instructed as he took a step back from the spell book to allow his Apprentice to work.

Clark had been taught by most of his tutors that controlling both magic and his natural powers all boiled down to will. You had to want it, imagine it. You had to make your power comply. Occasionally you needed to be forceful, usually you just had to ask as the power was you and you were the power and the harmony between you both would ease things.

Destroying a soul turned out to be a forceful thing.

Clark could feel the soul but he couldn't see it. He attempted to use his magic and divinity to little avail. In the end he grabbed what he could of the soul and ripped it from the book before proceeding to find the head and then rip it off.

"Did it work?" He asked as he felt the soul dissipate.

"It worked. A little messy; but it worked." Harry nodded. "Now do the second one."

Clark nodded and grabbed at the second soul and repeating what worked: ripping it from the book and then tearing off the head. He was very glad he couldn't see the souls as he hated to think of the expressions of fear on their faces as he executed them. He knew that killing people was sometimes necessary but he preferred it to be in battle, not execution.

"Good work Clark." Harry said seriously. "Come on, we'll have some Fire Whiskey."

Fire Whiskey was the only drink that could get Clark drunk… primarily because of its magical properties. Harry had brought a lot of it back with them from their jaunt to deliver the Deathly Hallows.

As they descended the stairs to the main entrance hall they met Lex and Helen. Lex lived with Helen at the castle at the insistence of everyone of the residents and at the threat of having to deal with an island of pissed off Amazons if he broke Helen's heart again.

"Hi… is he supposed to be that green?" Lex asked cautiously as he pointed at Clark.

"He just did something that he didn't like and it made him a bit queasy."

"I thought he was over his fear of heights."

"I had him destroy the two souls in the spell book." Harry explained as Neville held up the book behind him.

"Oh… practise?"

"You never know when I might get incapacitated again." Harry nodded. "In all my millions of years of life it has only happened twice; and they both happened in this universe."

"Well, I had the Techno Girls check this and they said it was safe to give to Clark." Lex handed over a glass case with a preserved manuscript inside.

"Techno Girls?" Xander asked.

"Laura, Brunhilde and Matsu." Helen explained as she rolled her eyes.

"Do they know you call them that?" Harry queried.

"Not yet." Lex said as he clasped his hands behind his back and stood straight. "I'm expecting you to give me fair warning so I can flee through the portal with my wife."

"Ha!" Helen scoffed derisively. "I'll be the one pinning you down for them."

"There goes the sanctity of marriage." Lex grumbled.

"Lex, do you know what this is?" Clark asked, he was no longer green and his colour was fast returning.

"Yes Clark, I have a good idea." Lex laughed at the sceptical look on Clark's face. "Do you really think I am going to hand you something with Kryptonian symbols on it without making sure it isn't going to try and… I don't know…_possess_ you?" He said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh… I didn't-"

"I am _not_ Harry and you seem to have spent far to much time with him."

"Hey!"

"He has a point." Neville shrugged. "So what is so special about it?" Neville asked as he hastily moved the conversation on before Harry could get on a roll.

"The manuscript itself depicts the victory of the Grand Prince Donskoi's victory over Mamai at the Battle of Kulikovo."

"I don't think I've ever been a 'Grand Prince' before." Harry mused. "Been a prince."

"You were the ruler of planet Earth, why-"

"He's still the official ruler of the known galaxy in Scott's universe." Clark interrupted Xander. "He can have any title he wants."

"I wasn't complaining!" Harry grumbled. "I was just commenting."

"Back to the manuscript?" Neville asked tiredly.

It was hard being the sane one in the family.

He had had such high hopes for Clark.

"The decorative border on the manuscript is actually made up of Kryptonian symbols which actually say:…" Lex indicated for Clark to translate.

"'Look deeper.'"

"And when you use an x-ray on it you can see…"

"A map. A map depicting the location of the Stone of Air." Clark said in awe.

"Do we know where this map is supposed to be used?" Neville asked.

"Even better." Helen said smugly as she produced a lead box. "We had everyone working on this and then I went with Laura and we picked it up today."

"Where was it?" Clark asked as he reverently took the box from Helen. Sitting in the box on a red silk cushion was the Stone of Air.

"China. We nearly had trouble with the military but they were easily dealt with."

"Kicked their butts?" Xander asked with a grin.

"We showed them our diplomatic credentials." She said chastisingly.

"Should have kicked their butts." He griped.

"We will need to work out a plan so we can combine the stones." Clark said as he closed the lid without touching the stone. "The Guardians are so eager to find the stones they keep offering to send Lanterns to scour the Earth for me." He chuckled as they resumed their trek to the common room.

"We can do it on the weekend. We're all curious about how they work after all." Harry said.

"We have that fundraiser this weekend." Lex said unhappily. It was bad enough that he had to play the villainous billionaire in public, it would be even worse as he would have to be spiteful to his best friends _and_ he would have to suffer the advances of various women looking to ride the Luthor train.

"What's wrong with those two?" Logan asked as he jogged down the stairs.

"Lex is not looking forward to the fundraiser and Xander is upset that Laura and Helen didn't beat up the military when they were accosted in China." Neville explained.

"This is why I hide all my money. No one can find out how much I have then try and invite to these swanky deals… as for the fighting… the kid knows better than to get into a brawl and not invite me." He smirked as he continued down the stairs.

"Smug bastard." Xander grunted.

"How does he hide his money?" Lex asked. "He doesn't strike me as the type to trust a bank."

"He doesn't." Harry said dryly. "He literally means he has stashes of money in various currencies hidden all over the world. Usually under a Fidelius."

"His mattress is stuffed with bills, isn't it?" Xander asked.

"The man sleeps on obscene piles of money surrounded by beautiful naked women."

"I really need to get a girlfriend." Xander sighed.


	59. Chapter 59

"You must be Lana."

Lana was currently taking inventory behind the counter of the Talon as the other workers served the customers. She was surprised to hear a refined English voice address her with such familiarity that was female.

"Can I help you?" She asked as she kept her face passive.

"Genevieve Teague, Jason's mother." She said with a regal nod. "I had heard that my son had found himself a young girl and a decent job. Not what his father and I wanted for him of course but at least its something."

Lana had the distinct feeling that she was being insulted.

"Sorry Miss, we aren't looking to change our suppliers."

Lana had to quickly suppress her laughter at the overly common accent Scott had used, especially considering the look of outrage on Mrs. Teague's face.

"I am _not_ a sales person." She said with slight twitch.

"Oh, sorry. You're just a bit more dolled up than our regular _clientele_." He said the last word with a horribly affected posh accent. "Be a love and take a seat though, we need this area for serving the customers."

"I was just discussing some personal matters with Miss Lang." She said as she attempted to maintain her calm.

"Girls working at the moment. She gets off at eight though. You can try calling at the Potter Castle if you want to talk to her then." Scott shrugged. "Hop to it luv." Scott grinned as he swatted Lana's backside with the towel he was carrying.

Luna just laughed and headed back to the office, leaving Scott to have his fun. She made a quick mental call to Jean to see if she and Scott would be willing to patch her into his mind so she could watch the rest of his conversation with Genevieve Teague.

"It seems you are quite familiar with the young lady, Mr…?"

"Summers. Scott Summers." He answered as he held out his hand with big grin.

She looked at it as though he were holding a dead rat.

Scott just shrugged and started to wipe down the glass covers on the counter. "Lana's like family. Me and the missus took custody of her a year or so back. Her aunt was leaving town and she didn't want to leave her school and friends."

"Quite." She sighed in irritation. "Wait… you said the girl lived at Potter Castle, you can't honestly expect me to believe you live there too?"

Scott dropped the lowly bartender mannerisms and just looked at Genevieve with a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I don't expect you to believe anything, Mrs. Teague. I do expect you to be a bit more respectful when dealing with my friends and family though. Lana is more than intelligent enough to pick up on your attitude and insults. If all you are here to do is insult my adopted daughter then you can think again and stay away from her."

"I don't take orders from anybody Mr. Summers." She had been a little shocked when the more refined character suddenly took form in front of her, but she was much more comfortable duelling with words with an armed opponent.

"The Sheriff might disagree with you on that one. Not to mention the State Department. Lana is considered part of Harry Potter's family and has diplomatic credentials… you might want to reconsider your intentions towards the girl with an untouchable family… the Sheriff hates it when she has to… clean up after us." He said with a sinister smile.

"Diplomatic credentials can be revoked, Mr. Summers." She countered.

"I think you're forgetting who's running the country." Scott laughed.

"For now Mr. Summers, for now." She said as she turned on her heal and stalked off.

"Mrs. Teague?" Scott called out. She stopped and turned, fixing him with an icy glare; very aware that she was now the centre of attention of the evening crowd currently packed into the coffee shop. "Didn't you want to order a drink?"

"I wouldn't order from here if it was the last place on Earth, Mr. Summers." She sneered.

"I think I can help you keep that promise." Scott nodded. "We're invoking our right to refuse service to you. Please leave and don't return or I'll have to call the Sheriff."

Genevieve looked like she had swallowed something… that she really shouldn't have. She turned and stormed out.

As soon as the door closed a cheer erupted from the patrons as they clapped. Scott gave a small bow and a smile before heading back to the office to check on Lana.

"That. Was. Amazing." Lana stated emphatically.

"I know we teach you not to banter with the enemy but there are exceptions." Scott said as he took a seat behind the desk. "When dealing with politicians and the rich it is better not to let them have the verbal edge. Always put them on the defensive, avoid answering their questions by turning the question back to them."

"And never let them storm out with the last word?"

"Depends on the word, but I think you've got the idea." Scott agreed. "If they leave angrily swearing death and destruction then let them leave and smile as they do, happy that you angered them.

"If they make calm and measured threats then yes, get the last word in. Harry's favourite is asking them not to do it on a random day like, two weeks from Saturday. It usually throws them off."

"Does Clark know about these… 'techniques'?" She asked.

"Yes… but Clark never uses them because he's too damned nice!"

* * *

"Let's see, assault, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy… well… the list just keeps going on, doesn't it?" Captain Sawyer said with a raised eyebrow as she addressed the beautiful young woman known as Shannon Bell.

Lex had been approached by beautiful brunette at the charity fundraiser. He had made polite small talk but had missed the part where he had been drugged. Fortunately Tess was watching as his bodyguard from a distance and managed to save the young woman when her partner, Shannon, tried to change the plan and murder her.

They were apparently a couple of ex-one-night-stands from the clone. They were looking for revenge for being ignored. Shannon plans seemed to go a fair bit further than Eve's, the young woman.

"Its his word against mine." Shannon said smugly. "By the time I'm finished his name will be mud."

"It _was_ your word against his, now it is your word against your partner's." Sawyer countered with a smirk of her own. "One of the pitfalls of trying to murder your partner I guess. I'll leave you to decide if you want to fight this or do the smart thing and confess."

The Captain exited the interrogation room and headed to her office where Lex Luthor was waiting with his bodyguard, Mercy Graves. Mercy was an unusual puzzle; she had literally appeared out of nowhere and was now seen as a permanent fixture wherever Lex went.

"Mr. Luthor. I'm sure you will be pleased to know that Eve Andrews has rolled on her partner. We are just giving her a chance to ponder her options." Maggie Sawyer stated as she took her seat.

Lex could see that Captain Sawyer was not happy at having to deal with him. It was definitely part of the problem his clone had caused. All those bridges and friendly relationships he had built and cultivated had been ripped to nothing by his evil clone.

Lex never thought his life would become the plotline for a sci-fi thriller.

"What are your opinions on the young women, Captain? Can they be rehabilitated?" Lex asked calmly.

"Rehabilitated? I'm sorry, I was under the impression you only cared about crushing your enemies."

"Depends on the enemy." Lex countered quickly. "That said I feel responsible for part of this mess. I just don't know how responsible to feel." He said uncomfortably. "I did engage in relations with the women for one night only, but they were both consenting adults. I am not fond of the thought that I may have spurned them unnecessarily."

"You've never struck me as they type to care about other's feelings."

Lex could see he wasn't going to get anywhere with Sawyer like this. "Captain, I will be heading back to my apartment for now. Could you meet me there tomorrow?" He asked as he stood up and buttoned his suit jacket.

"For what reason, Mr. Luthor?" She asked suspiciously.

"I would love to be able to tell you right now why but I prefer to exercise the utmost caution and I fear bugs and eavesdropping." Lex explained. "I promise that I will answer all your questions if you can make it."

"And if I can't?"

"Then you should know that you are working with only half the facts. You will still be able to do your job but… things will make more sense if you listen to what I have to say."

"What time?"

"Whenever you are available. I will be at home all day."

"We'll see Mr. Luthor. But no promises."

Lex graced her with a small but appreciative smile. "That is all I ask."

* * *

"You're really going to tell her about… everything?" Tess asked as she sat in the limo with Lex.

"She deserves to know and she could be a good ally. She already has a previous connection with Harry and Clark."

"Have any of the natives of our universe ever revealed the secrets on their own?"

"Not that I know of. Clark might have come the closest when Harry encouraged Clark to reveal his secret to me." Lex chuckled in fond remembrance. "He was so scared I was going to have him strapped down to a lab table."

"He can't have been that bad." Tess argued.

"Ask Chloe about some of his previous excuses for covering up his powers. Better yet, ask them about the events surrounding and including how he revealed his abilities to Chloe _and_ Lana." Lex smiled.

"Maybe we'll have a home movie night." Tess mused. "Earl has been experimenting with memory projections. Xander says Harry developed them when he was fifteen. I can't believe he was dealing with this sort of thing back then."

"He wasn't."

The siblings jumped as the privacy screen separating them from the driver lowered.

"He only had to deal with a single corrupt government and a dark lord who wanted him dead because of a prophecy."

"Logan, what are you doing here?" Tess demanded.

"Sweetheart, you may be an Amazon, but you have a long way to go before your god, goddess and queen will let you go off on solo missions. I'm your backup, Amara asked me to do this, I suppose it's a little thing really but I hate these damned suits." The short mutant grumbled as he pulled at his shirt collar.

"Won't people recognise you as- they put a charm on your identity, like they did me, didn't they?" Tess said in realisation.

"Your driver today is one James Howlett." Logan snorted.

"How did they come up with that one? My first name is a play on my last but the rest is the equivalent of my superhero name."

"It's my real name." Logan explained. "Back in the day before Harry turned up, I had full blown amnesia. I had no idea who I was, just flashes of a lot of bad days. I went by Logan back then. Eventually I discovered my name was James Howlett, most embarrassing day of my life." He muttered.

"James is fine name." Lex frowned.

"It's a damned posh name!" Logan argued. "I had spent all those years after losing my memory cultivating a hard earned rep as the biggest baddest bastard around. I was the best at what I did and what I did… weren't for people named 'James'." He spat the name in disgust.

"I think its perfect." Tess giggled. "Now then," She said primly. "Home James, and don't spare the horses."

"God damned kids." He muttered. He swore Xander had cheated when they had gambled to see who would get this job.

* * *

Clark was happily sitting in his office at MBI and going over the latest reports sent up from Takami regarding the companies innovations when he felt a strange compulsion and pull to head to Themiscyra. He didn't know what it was that was causing it but he headed over and opened the door to the Disciplinary Squad lounge.

Unfortunately only Mutsu was present.

"Are you ok Uncle?" Mutsu asked carefully. "You seem… off somehow."

"I have unnatural desire to head to Themiscyra, Mutsu. I was hoping to take some backup but I don't think the Amazons will take kindly to me bringing a man."

"It will not be a problem, Uncle." Mutsu waved a dismissive hand as he grabbed his sword and stood. "As long as I am there as yours to command they will accept me in my present role."

"How can you be so sure?" Clark asked.

Mutsu just smiled slyly. "It is how we Sekirei would respond to Amazons accompanying you or Miya."

"Fine, come and stand by me. We will be silent and invisible to check for threats."

"Understood Uncle."

Clark placed a hand on Mutsu's shoulder but then paused and looked at his adopted nephew suspiciously. "You wouldn't just be trying to con your way onto an island full of unattached and beautiful women would you?"

"You wound me Uncle!"

"No, Mutsu, I'm not the one who will be doing the wounding." Clark smirked.

* * *

Clark teleported himself and Mutsu to the source of the mysterious pull. He was surprised to see every Amazon in the temple and, from what he could see, stretching outside, kneeling on the floor with their heads bowed.

At the altar was the high priestess who was praying over an assortment of what looked like hair that he felt a strange pull to. He was certain it belonged to Kyla.

"Check the perimeter for intruders, if you find a male you don't recognise, remove their head and call me." Clark instructed under the silencing charm.

Mutsu silently nodded and moved off.

"Clark? Are you here?"

Clark turned to where Kyla, who was in the first row of Amazons, had sat up on her haunches and was looking around curiously before she zoned in on him.

"_I'm here Kyla."_ He sent through the magical telepathy. _"What's going on? I felt a pull to come here. Is there trouble?"_

Kyla rolled her eyes. _"No you moron, we were making a sacrifice to you and requesting your presence. Hurry up and appear so the girls don't think you are shunning them."_

Clark dropped his invisibility and stealth spells revealing himself to the Amazons.

"All hail Kal-El." The High Priestess said loudly but reverently.

"_**ALL HAIL KAL-EL."**_ The response was just as reverent but when it came from several hundred women… it was substantially louder.

"Greetings Amazons. I apologise for my lateness but this is the first time I have been called on in such a manner. Please rise." Clark said respectfully, he waited for the Amazons to stand before turning to the High Priestess. "Penelope, how may I aid you?"

"My Lord Kal-El, recent information has come to the attention of the Amazon nation. Is it true that you can hear the voices of all the innocent in the world who call out in pain or for help?"

Clark looked down at the front row where Kyla and the Smallville Amazons where standing with their heads bowed. Even Jodie, the latest sister was present. At the forefront was Amara, dressed in a regal flowing white toga with the crown upon her head and Diana at her side.

"It is true, I have learnt to… ignore much of the noise but even now I can hear them and the anguish they feel."

"This is unacceptable for us as you are one of our gods." Penelope said firmly. "We beg that you would allow us to enter the world of man to help those who need us and to relieve some of the burden from you." She finished by kneeling before the young god.

Clark frowned. "Daughters of Aphrodite, you honour me with your words, actions and desires. But this is not something I can decide on my own. I would be blessed to have you in the world aiding myself and those who need us, but this would bring the Amazon Nation further into the world. We must plan carefully and discuss our next step. Most importantly, Aphrodite must give her blessing.

"Let us not forget that we would be fools to not call upon the wisdom of Athena."

"Lord Kal-El, we have procured a list of countries willing to allow the Amazon nation to assist you." Amara said as she stepped forward and handed him a sheet of paper that simply held a list of countries.

Clark smiled as he saw the list. Most of the countries were third world countries. He wouldn't let the Amazons near a few of them for fear they would be horrified by what they found and go on a rampage.

He did that enough himself with Harry.

"This will be a much larger leap into the wider world." Clark addressed the Amazons. "As I said, I cannot simply give you permission without consulting the others, but I will fight for your right to do so and you will go with my blessing."

A cheer went up from the Amazons and Clark couldn't help but smile at the women who wanted to do all they could to help.

* * *

Clark had grown up having to handle weekly catastrophes, emergencies and disaster.

And that was just when he was living in Smallville.

Then he met Harry and he learnt how to think ahead and to prepare contingencies, counter-actions and responses.

As soon as the Amazons had presented him with their request to help him protect the innocent of the world, his mind had gone straight to one of his stored plans at MBI.

MBI didn't just have the Sekirei; they also had a complete military outfit of several thousand men and women as well as a variety of land, air and sea vehicles. At the moment these assets, both human and otherwise, were assigned as reserve troops for the Japanese military. They still worked for MBI but they were there to handle any overflow the Japanese military couldn't. Especially with a substantial percentage of the Japanese military in America until the new government took power.

The members of the Disciplinary Squads each had nominal command over one squad of men along with necessary vehicles and supplies.

It had taken a lot of training over the past two years by Miya and Logan to get the Sekirei ready to command.

This gave Clark what he needed as he had a force of nearly all female commanders that he could assign Amazon warriors to. This way the Sekirei in charge would act as a liaison and mentor for the normally isolated women.

If every Sekirei took four Amazons and taught them about 'Man's World' then those four Amazons could take on another four Amazons and pass on their knowledge, the pattern would continue as needed.

Of course each group would learn about a different culture, as the Japanese culture was far different than the Australian culture or African cultures.

Clark suspected that Harry would become far busier as the number of evil humans rounded up for him to destroy would sky rocket.

That was something else the Amazons and Sekirei needed to remember: Don't kill the bad guys.

Or so he thought…

"You don't need to look so broody when you think. Daddy called it 'pulling an Angel'."

Clark looked up in surprise from his desk to see the soul of Luna Lovegood sitting in the chair opposite.

"Luna? Did I call you here?" Clark asked curiously.

Luna just giggled. "No, I'm unique as I can travel to visit when I want."

"Is that part of you being Harry's first soul mate?"

"I suppose it is." Luna mused. "I've never really thought about it. I've only ever appeared to Harry before, I never managed to appear elsewhere. I've tried, but you are the first person other than Harry I have travelled to."

"I suppose it makes sense though; given the strong connections between Harry and myself." Clark pointed out. "So did you just come to chat?" He asked with a smile.

"No, but I will do one day." She returned the smile. "I came because like your lovely Amazons and Sekirei, the souls of the afterlife have a similar offer for you."

Clark frowned curiously but said nothing.

"The dead are not permitted to cross the veil from the afterlife with out the permission of Lord Death… or yourself as his Right Hand.

"But we can control and enforce the borders of the afterlife with yours and Harry's permission.

"When your Amazons and Sekirei have defeated and killed an enemy in battle or execution, the souls of the other side will join together and deny their entry… we will force them to become ghosts."

"Ghosts? Won't that make them hard to find for us?" Clark asked as he leaned forward.

"Not for magicals like yourself and the Amazons. Or anyone that Harry makes a magical. But it will save you from having to hold onto your prisoners instead of executing the worst ones."

"I haven't heard much about ghosts from Harry." Clark said thoughtfully.

"In the worlds where Harry rules, ghosts do not exist, Harry helps them move on. But go to places like Chernobyl and Hiroshima and you will see the millions of ghosts that are still suffering."

"Suffering?"

"Being a ghost is not supposed to be a pleasant experience." Luna said seriously. "All your senses are dulled, emotions are hard to feel… it is why existing ghosts will jump at the chance to pass on."

"Is that what you are experiencing now?"

"No." She smiled at his concern. "I am a soul, visiting with permission. A ghost is trapped, like an illegal immigrant…able to see the world they now live in but not permitted to partake and interact. I am more of a tourist."

"But I can tell you are in pain." Clark said as he stood and walked round the table.

"Yes, I have already spent too long here."

"Then go, we can talk more another time." Clark promised.

"Call me when you get to the places I mentioned, I will help the souls cross over."

* * *

Tess was having a really bad day.

First of all she and Lex had to take a tour of the LuthorCorp facility that had been set up under everyone's noses in Smallville. That was a major annoyance as they couldn't just shut it down at the drop of a hat due to military funding. They had been taking the elevator down to the underground facility when there had been a power cut.

That was when the day had gone to pot.

The brakes had failed and the cable snapped as they plummeted to the bottom of the shaft.

She had tried to grab Lex and teleport out only to not be able to find him. So she teleported herself out to the castle to get Jean, Clark or Harry.

The castle was not where she wound up.

She found herself in the city of Themiscyra, alone.

Where there should have been hundreds of women guarding the walls, running the stalls or just running errands… there was just herself.

She began calling out the names of her sisters.

"PENELOPE!

"HELEN!

"DESDEMONA!

"RHEIA!"

The only response was her own voice echoing back at her.

"Tess! Run!"

Tess didn't recognise the hoarse, panicky voice approaching down the street. The person was running as fast as they could towards her with a dark tall figure striding calmly behind.

"Run!"

Tess made to move to a defensive stance but faltered as she finally recognised the figure running towards her.

Never had she even dreaded seeing her Queen in such a state.

Her clothing was ripped, her face was badly beaten, a bleeding wound on her abdomen… Amara Aquila should never be in such a way.

She was too strong…

Not in magic, muscle or intelligence…

But in her family…

Her allies…

Her very spirit.

"Ah, my dear wayward daughter."

Tess' blood ran cold as the striding dark figure revealed itself as Lionel Luthor… with a gun.

"You're not real. Harry imprisoned you in that cage." Tess said shakily as she grabbed her Queen and pushed her behind her.

"You simple people." Lionel laughed mockingly. "You truly put all your faith in someone claiming to be Death when you already know he can be trapped and contained so easily!"

"You are _not here_." Tess said more firmly.

"Everybody lies, my dear. Does it really surprise you that you've fallen for the biggest lie of all? That someone calling themselves 'Death' could trap me?"

"Everybody lies. No one can defeat me. Tremble at my presence. Yada yada yada." Came a strong female voice with a Boston accent.

Tess half turned only to find Amara had been replaced by a curvy brunette wearing tight black pants, a tight white t-shirt and a leather jacket. She had one hand on her cocked hip and snarky look on her beautiful face.

"This is why Boy-Toy never let the bad guys rant." She said as she stepped between Lionel and Tess. She didn't even spare Lionel a glance as she faced Tess. "You really gonna stand there and listen to him? I know Xand has been teaching about dealing with the Big Bads." She shot a look of mild disgust over her shoulder. "Not that he counts as one."

"Is this one of your little 'sisters'?" Lionel asked condescendingly. "Someone else for me to practice on before we get down to business ourselves, right, Lutessa?" He said as he expertly checked the chamber on the gun.

"You do realise this is all in your head, right?" The brunette asked.

"Where is my Queen?" Tess demanded cautiously, never taking her eyes off Lionel.

"My guess is she is probably standing over your body with your god and goddess… and can I just say… your god… humina humina humina!" She winked salaciously. "What was the last thing you remember before you came here?"

"Lex and I were visiting a LuthorCorp site in Smallville."

"So nice of you to keep the name." Lionel smirked as he took aim at the woman.

"Ignore him." She instructed. "Do you know what they were working on at the lab? Here's a hint: It came from Gotham."

Tess frowned; she was still fighting her fear of Lionel. She hated the thought that he might return and take away everything she loved… like her brother and her Amazon family.

Fear!

"The Scarecrow's fear toxin!" She gasped.

The brunette nodded approvingly. "A highly concentrated dose. You got caught in a leak and now you have to deal with this piece of shit." She sneered at Lionel.

***BANG***

"That's enough-" Lionel paused in shock as he noticed the brunette still standing there, not a scratch on her.

"This is all in your mind, girl." She told Tess, completely ignoring Lionel. "But whilst you are here… its always good to face your fear… and give it a kick in the happy sacks. Have fun!" She grinned.

"Who are you?" Tess asked. She didn't seem like one of the gods and she definitely wasn't an Amazon.

"Just tell Boy Toy me and the nymph are looking forward to him coming back." She winked. "Remember, you gotta have faith!"

And with that she vanished.

Leaving her standing alone with Lionel Luthor.

Tess spared a quick glance at her surroundings. Then she focused on Lionel.

She knew Lionel was dead. She had been there when Harry and Clark had sent him to eternal torture.

This was all in her head.

Fear has no power over someone who knows it is all fake.

Everything vanished.

Tess was now floating in a void of white; she closed her eyes and revelled in the peace and calm until she was awakened.

* * *

Lex woke up groggily and to the feeling of someone smacking his cheeks.

"Harry, if you don't cut it out I swear to God I will have Chloe or Clark zap you." He said without opening his eyes.

"Hey!"

Harry's voice sounded a little too far away.

Lex's eyes snapped open to see the grinning face of Dani staring down at him. Still slapping him.

"Dani? Cut it out!" He grumbled as he slapped her hands away.

"I told him I could get him to blame yo- ow!" She grabbed her butt where Lex had sent a stinging hex at her.

"Nothing compared to what I was going to have done to Harry." Lex scowled. "What happened?" He asked Harry.

"Dani wanted to wake-"

"Not that and you know it. Why am I here at the Castle Infirmary?" He rolled his eyes at Harry's antics.

"The facility you were visiting today? It was working on weaponising the Scarecrow's fear toxin. They did a pretty good job."

"Yes… I remember now." He nodded in thought.

"Urgh… feisty short brunette?"

Lex looked over to see Tess sitting up and rubbing her temple.

"You aren't short or brunette." Lex frowned.

"No, in my… nightmare… I had a feisty short brunette come and help me. She didn't seem like one of the gods though."

"Oh… well my mother came to me." Lex admitted. "You probably met a soul from the other side."

"It wasn't anyone I recognise. Do we know someone named Boy Toy?" She asked.

Neville who was nearby and working on their patient records snorted a laugh. "Xander; go give your message to Xander." He explained.

Tess looked to Harry for more of an explanation.

"I am _not_ getting involved in my dad's love life."

"The woman was his lover?"

"Did I just not say I wasn't getting involved?" Harry demanded petulantly.

"You all got off easy." Came a new voice.

Lex and Tess turned to see General Sam Lane ease himself off his bed. "I got visited by my late wife. My very pissed off late wife." He grimaced. "If you will excuse me, I need to make some phone calls."

They watched the one armed General walk unsteadily out of the hospital wing. Neville put his clipboard down and followed.

"What about the scientists and personnel at the facility, what happened to them?" Lex asked as he turned back to Harry.

"Dead. They were exposed to the toxin for too long and their hearts gave out. You two only survived because Tess' ingrained Amazon Training had her teleport straight to the castle. Neville was on duty and sent me in to find you."

"See? And you were complaining about having a full time bodyguard." Tess said smugly.

"You had a sister Harry, was she always like this?" Lex asked.

"Well… I suppose… but she was also a seer and too damn cute to argue with." Harry admitted.

"I agree." Clark said as he walked in through the far doors. "On all counts."

"You're not going to get all smug about this too are you?" Lex groaned as he flopped back on the bed.

"Me? No." Clark grinned. "But you should know that the Amazons have just put in an additional requisition to at least double your bodyguard detail."

"Oh god."

"The Sekirei have made a similar request."

"What? Why would they do that?"

"Because you are the brother of their god." Miya stated as she walked in. "Not to mention the brother of the man who saved them from Minaka."

"Welcome to my world Lex." Clark was _now_ the smug one.

* * *

"Is everything ok, General?" Neville asked the seemingly older man… he was a mere infant compared to Neville.

It was only the acknowledgement of this fact that stopped the General from snapping at the man for even asking.

"Yes and no." He admitted. "There is nothing wrong that any of you need to deal with… just some issues my wife demanded I take care of… which I now realise I shouldn't have let happen." He sighed.

"If you need help than feel free to ask." Neville insisted. "If there is one thing we have always insisted on, even when we were kids, its that we should never have to do things alone. No matter the issue."

"I wouldn't think you would need anyone." The General commented with a raised eyebrow.

Neville just smiled. "Its not really about an individual being able to _handle_ situations, its about how our loved ones react.

"When we were just young fifteen year olds, Harry had to finish off a Dark Lord that had been hunting him down and trying to kill him since, literally, before he was born. He had a plan, he had an army- a multi-national army backing him and I was by his side.

"He did the whole thing in secret, just an elite team filled with need to know personnel.

"When the news broke the following day his girlfriend and family laid into him. Not because he did it without them but because he didn't warn them. They had to learn from the TV that Harry had been a hair's breadth from leaving them."

"But they weren't part of the 'need to know' group." The General pointed out.

"These were all people who would have died before giving up a secret and would have accepted being sequestered for the duration of the operation.

"The point is, they needed to know, they had a right as family. They didn't need specifics, they just needed to know that there was a chance he wouldn't come back or that he would come back hurt."

"I can see your point, but I don't see how it will apply to my current problems."

"Then here is another bit of information. For over fifteen million years, Harry was stuck on Earth after _all_ life, animal and vegetable had died out. I was the only one who could visit him. Now he has a large family that will be with him forever, but he still needs to see his sister, his father and his other girlfriends and wives and children.

"The most powerful being in existence needs his loved ones. A mere mortal trying to do what he can't… what he _shouldn't_, is one of the dumbest things possible." Neville finished with a small smile before he teleported away without giving the General a chance to respond.

* * *

**A/N: Back To Sunnydale?**

Ok, so I am putting this here because people keep mentioning it and... some people have threatened to start begging.

I intended to write a trip to Sunnydale 'verse since I started writing this particular instalment. I haven't written a single word but I have the title and a good deal of what will happen stored in my noggin'... so just hope I don't trip and fall... which is a good possibility as I walk with a stick.

I may start writing it before I finish this stor- ah what the hell, I'll start now. I usually have several stories going at once, I might as well make this one of them.

I don't know where I will end Death's Little Brother... I'm thinking about somewhere around the Thanagarian invasion. But I like to leave things open so that I can go back and add a sequel. I am hoping to continue M-Day at some point... not to mention The Champion.

Anyway, I am about to open a new word file and start writing some chaos... more a chaos.


	60. Chapter 60

Chloe and Lois moved into the castle for a few days whilst Sam Lane requested Gabe's help out of the country. Normally Chloe would be fine on her own as one of the castle residents would stay with her but Chloe refused to stay with Lois alone.

The girl was a slob.

Christmas was now approaching as well and Gabe and Sam wouldn't be back before the New Year. Things were looking to go smoothly for once… and that's when things started going wrong of course.

"Baker! Need you to come with me."

Everyone in the school cafeteria looked up to see Sheriff Adams marching in with Emma and Terrence.

Emma did not look pleased. "Sheriff, was it really necessary to cause a scene like that?"

"Darn tootin'! I want all these people to witness me taking Miss Baker away for questioning. I want them all to know that I don't believe for a second that she is guilty of attacking Coach Teague."

"What?!" Lana was out of her seat like a shot.

"Relax Miss Lang, Coach Summers was nearby and rescued him." Emma assured her. "Dr. Potter has already cleared him."

"Like I care! I'll catch up with you later." She told the others around the table.

"Come on Chiho, we'll keep her company and make sure she doesn't do anything… stupid." Chloe sighed.

"Yeah, wouldn't want Lana horning in on your territory." Kyla grinned cheekily.

Chloe took the high road and left with her head held high… some might call it snooty… but not her.

Uzume and Chiho followed her giggling.

"If you don't believe I did it then why are you taking me in?" Alicia asked nervously.

"Because the crime has the markings of someone with your abilities as a known teleporter, Miss Baker." The Sheriff didn't bother mentioning the fact that every single one of the castle residents could do it as well. That was not general knowledge.

Of course it also wasn't general knowledge that her teleportation was no longer a result of kryptonite poisoning. Jean had used the device Bruce Banner had built and cleaned her system whilst Clark had used her as a test dummy to see if he could make a magical.

It had worked but he was wiped for the day.

Alicia Baker was the first person ever to be given magic by someone other than Harry Potter. Unless they were born with it of course.

"Then why don't you believe it was me?"

"Because I already have witness statements from certain members of the community who said they were with you at the time of the attack or saw you. This is just to dot my I's and cross my T's."

"This won't go on my record?"

"No, it will just be a sheet of paper in the case file that says you were questioned as per procedure and then we moved on to more viable leads."

"This really doesn't sound like a legally sound move." Ryan said with confusion. Ryan had come to see Amara as something of a role model; he was very interested in the law. Part of it was also to do with making sure that in the future, people like Lionel Luthor couldn't twist the justice system. "What's the real reason?"

"Pressure from the DA's office." The Sheriff shrugged. She wasn't going to cover for the cowardly bastard.

"Can't we fight it?" Ryan asked.

"That would be unwise at this time." Emma explained quickly. "To bring this to the courts would mean creating a paper trail that cannot be erased. Miss Baker's name would forever be linked to this crime."

"But if I do the interview and hold onto the file personally, when I find the little rat bastard I can toss all references to you."

"Language Sheriff." Emma said warningly.

Adams looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Emma just raised her own.

Emma was a veteran Eyebrow Raiser.

The Sheriff didn't stand a chance and soon folded.

* * *

The Sheriff and Alicia were sitting in the interrogation room when the door burst open and a very irate blond stormed in.

"What is the meaning of this outrage?" Tsukiumi demanded. "Arresting the girl when others have been her- her erm… I do not know this word." She muttered slightly red faced as she lost her verbal momentum.

"Alibi." Alicia supplied.

"Really? What means this word?" Tsukiumi queried.

"It is the term used for whatever proof is offered that a person could not have done what they were accused of." Sheriff Adams explained. "Be it a witness, a video recording or other relevant evidence."

"Hmm, I see. I believe I will need this word for Kusano, Musubi and Dani. In the future they will need… _alibis_ for their… misdeeds."

Alicia just giggled. It was a known fact that Dani was often getting the two fairly naive Sekirei to pull pranks with her. Sometimes they just didn't realise what Dani was up to… other times they were sneaky girls who managed to pin the whole thing on Dani.

"The Sheriff isn't making an official report Tsukiumi. She just has to keep up appearances." Alicia explained.

"But this will sully your reputation! It is despicable!"

"Miss Tsukiumi, how is it that you know words like 'reputation' and 'despicable' but you don't know 'alibi'?" Adams asked with suppressed amusement.

"I learn the words I need. Mother Kent says my English is very good." She said indignantly.

"Better than some natives." Adams snorted. "Take a seat Miss Tsukiumi and tell me how it is _you_ of all people are down here ready to tear off heads for Miss Baker. Last I heard you and a certain Greek were all set to wreck her love life indefinitely."

"Alicia is a smart and beautiful young woman." Tsukiumi said matter-of-factly as she took a seat next to Alicia. "She has made clear her feelings for my husband and I am aware that he finds her attractive in many ways. My husband is a powerful man and as such he is worthy of a large and powerful harem. Alicia will be a fine addition."

The Sheriff's eyes were wide… her jaw hanging loose.

Alicia was just… red.

"What?" Tsukiumi asked uncomfortable with the staring.

"I didn't know you were recruiting me for Clark's harem." Alicia squirmed in her seat.

"It is clearly the way things are going." Tsukiumi frowned. She couldn't understand what the big deal was.

There was a knock on the door.

The Sheriff jumped up quickly and opened it. "Oh thank god." She breathed in relief.

"Your welcome, you did ask me to come after all." Clark frowned as he took in the scene before him. "Is there a reason you decided to start cussing at me over the mental communication, Sheriff?"

"Kent, I've had to deal with kids with powers, gods, Death himself and some of the worst this planet has to offer since I became Sheriff." Adams said seriously. "But I will shoot myself in the foot before I let myself get dragged into this debacle called your 'harem'. Now kindly take your wife and Miss Baker and deal with them elsewhere." She ordered.

"I guess you won't explain?" Clark sighed.

"Like I said, Kent. I _won't_ be dragged into this."

* * *

In order to try and determine whatever cultural misunderstanding Tsukiumi had created Clark took Tsukiumi and Alicia to MBI so they could talk in private.

He greatly regretted this as all of his Sekirei bar Kusano, who was back in Smallville, decided to join in.

"You girls are worse than Kyla, Lana and Chloe!" Clark grumbled. "They kept trying to set me up as well."

"If we don't, you won't." Matsu shrugged unrepentantly.

"I will!"

"Then why haven't you asked Lois out on a date?" Yume queried. "She is your soul mate and you have done nothing." She said accusingly.

"Neither of us is exactly fond of each other, Yume. We're barely friends." Clark pointed out.

"That's because you haven't spent any time with her, Darling." Kazehana countered. "And I mean casual time, when you aren't dealing with the latest crisis." She added as she saw Clark about to argue.

"Fine, I will try to arrange to spend some time with Lois in a casual setting." Clark agreed half-heartedly. "Can we get back to Tsukiumi trying to arrange my harem?"

"You are husband to the Goddess of Love, Apprentice to an Avatar of Love and you are the god of a race of women created to spread love and happiness. I doubt you really thought that you would stop gaining soul mates and lovers, Husband." Aphrodite smirked as she appeared and took a seat between Yume and Musubi.

"I hadn't thought about it." Clark admitted unhappily. "But the least you could do is talk to me about it." He added pointedly.

"And here we are. Talking to you about it." Kazehana smiled impishly.

"Alicia, what do you have to say about all this?" Clark asked as he turned to the young teenager.

Alicia looked around slightly startled. _"Are you asking me a question? I can't understand anything you are saying."_

"_Oops."_ Musubi blushed. _"We forgot to put a translation charm on her."_

Clark waved a hand at Alicia. "Sorry about that Alicia, we all naturally switch to Japanese when we come here." He indicated the Sekirei lounge. "We were just discussing the girls not talking to me about seeking out additional… erm… you know…"

"Lovers." Yume offered helpfully.

"Wives." Tsukiumi said firmly.

"Hot young ass that you just have to tap."

"Uzume, what are you even doing here?" Clark asked with a glare.

"Chiho said I could join your harem. She is going to ask Ryan out and said it wasn't fair for her to date if I couldn't." She grinned happily.

Clark checked his watch. It was still school hours so he didn't have to worry about Kyla or any of the other girls arriving to gang up on him.

"Wait… Chiho is going to ask Ryan out?" Clark asked happily. "Does Ryan know?" He asked with a frown as he referred to his little brother's telepathy.

"Our Amazons in Smallville have taken responsibility for teaching the magicals in the town the mind arts." Aphrodite answered.

"Cool." Clark grinned as he sat down between Tsukiumi and Matsu.

Tsukiumi's hand instantly shot out to slap Matsu's as it went for places not suitable for polite company.

The redhead just pouted.

"As Clark was asking, Alicia Darling, what are your thoughts on being a part of a harem?" Kazehana asked kindly.

Once again the blonde looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Do I have to… do 'stuff' with all of you?" She asked nervously with finger-quotes.

"Of course not!" Tsukiumi said in outrage. "It is only deviants and perverts like Musubi, Matsu and Yume who indulge in that sort of behaviour."

"Ahem."

"You do not count." She told Aphrodite firmly. "You are the Goddess of Love. Even Yume can be excused to some degree. But Musubi and Matsu are… _indecent!_" She nearly shrieked.

"We love each other and we will hug and kiss each other but we do not necessarily engage in sexual acts." Homura finally spoke up quietly. She had finally taken all her memories from Harry and was quite content in her relationship with Clark.

"I… I think I need some time." Alicia decided. "I thought Tsukiumi was sticking with me to help me get _over_ Clark, not… date him. I like the idea but I need to… reset my brain again. I've spent the past few months trying not to think of Clark like that."

"I told you Kyla was right. You too were far too harsh on her." Yume chided Tsukiumi and Aphrodite. There was no rank in Clark's family. Aphrodite was just another family member and she was treated as such.

"She needed it at the time." Aphrodite rolled her eyes.

"Its true, I really would have tried to seduce Clark." Alicia admitted.

"Yes but in a way Yume is correct." Aphrodite admitted. "Once the message was delivered we should have spent more time with you to get you used to the way of life at the castle. You are a permanent resident after all."

"The other Amazons and Chiho always include me."

"In training." Aphrodite smiled. "I know Kyla tries to be your friend but you needed more to help you acclimatise to multi-partner relationships."

"When you are finished with your brain work you can join us for girly nights!" Musubi declared happily.

"And Clark can take you on a date or two." Kazehana added.

"I will make sure Clark's got some free time." Matsu, his unofficial secretary sighed. "I still say you need to talk to Barry about repeating days so you have more time for us." She pouted.

"I have a better idea." Aphrodite smiled excitedly. "He can take us to Asgard or I can bring you to Olympus. Within our own homes we, as gods, can slow the rate of time."

"Me first! Me first!" Musubi declared.

"Musubi, she just said that they can nearly stop time." Matsu sighed. "It won't matter who goes first."

"As long it is me." Musubi declared.

* * *

When Clark and the girls made it home that evening they were fairly amused to see Lois dancing around the entrance hall holding a piece of paper.

"Why is no one filming this?" Uzume asked in disbelief as she pulled out her own phone.

"I don't care what you do Uzume." The girl in question grinned. "Because I am finally free! FREE I TELL YOU!" She yelled happily.

"Free from what?" Musubi asked.

"Smallville! High School! I have finally been accepted into College!" She laughed maniacally.

"So I suppose now would be a bad time to ask if you wanted to go out for a meal or something?" Clark asked with a small smirk.

"Jeeze Smallville, did you have to go and ruin it?" Lois grumbled.

Yep, that was the response he was expecting.

"Great, I'll pick you up tomorrow at six." Clark grinned as he patted her on the back and strolled past.

"It's not happening Kent! I won't let you ruin my big day!"

"Come on, let's go find a sexy outfit for you to wear." Kazehana laughed as she took the younger girl by the arm.

"Come on K'. Do I have to?" Lois whined.

"I suppose you could go through life knowing that no relationship will ever be as good as the one you can have with Clark." She countered, dragging her along.

"You guys suck. You know that?"

Behind them Musubi, Yume and Uzume followed excited at the prospect of having a living doll.

Alicia turned to Aphrodite. "You can tell Clark that I'll be ready for a date when ever he has time." She shrugged.

"I'll pencil you in." Matsu sighed as she turned and followed the others.

Aphrodite just smiled and nodded.

* * *

The following day after cheerleading practice, the girl's shower was suddenly filled with Chloe, Jodie, Kyla, Aphrodite, Clark and all of his Sekirei.

They were standing around a naked, wet and choking Lana Lang. At her feet was a scarf that had been around her neck and used to choke her.

"What the hell happened?" Kyla demanded as she knelt down beside her sister and now soul mate and began healing the wounds on her neck.

"Something tried to strangle me… like sand, couldn't touch it." She gasped.

Aphrodite knelt beside her quickly and touched her cheek instantly calming her.

"Thank you goddess." Lana whispered as he breathing eased.

Clark was looking around angrily. "Homura, I need you to flood the drain with your hottest fire." He ordered.

"I'll help." Chloe said, not questioning her friend.

The two women began pouring the fire down the tiny hole, melting the tiles and metal and the stone beneath it.

"Ok, you can stop. Tsukiumi, can you cool it off?"

The water Sekirei stepped forward and began flooding the now two foot wide hole.

"Stop Tsukiumi." Clark ordered quietly. He stepped forward and reached into the hole before pulling out a long tube of glass that was at least four feet long. "I believe this is our attacker." He said as he showed it to the others.

Clark looked up at the others and then quickly lowered his eyes with a blush. "Lana, you're still naked."

Lana provided a full body blush as she conjured clothes on herself whilst she glared at a grinning Kyla.

"Who is this fiend that he thinks to attack one of us with impunity?" Tsukiumi demanded.

"We'll have to ask Harry. I don't recognise the feel of this soul and I can't see them visually." Clark shrugged. "But I think it is safe to say we have found the one trying to frame Alicia."

"Bastard." Tsukiumi growled. She suddenly had a very frightened look on her face as she searched the area for Miya. The woman hadn't managed to curb their language but she had managed to create a Pavlovian reaction as a result.

"Don't worry Tsukiumi, we won't tell on you." Matsu said innocently.

"Of course you won't Matsu. Just as I won't tell her of your deviant ways outside the bedroom." Tsukiumi countered.

Miya had begun enforcing certain rules on the castle such as no sexual activity outside of the bedrooms. Clark would occasionally find himself dragged into an unused room or accosted in his office by the red head who was just as insatiable as Musubi and Yume.

And far more kinky.

Dani and Lorna had taken it upon themselves to try and get Miya to lighten up. It wasn't easy as Miya wasn't one of the sort who played with other women so they tended to just put her in a random room with Harry. But Harry was happy to assist them in their quest.

"Let's get this murderer to Harry then." Chloe suggested.

"Would some one also take me to Alicia. I believe she should also be present for this." Tsukiumi requested. She had become something of a mentor for her intelligent fellow blonde.

"I can do that." Jodie offered.

* * *

"Name: Timothy Westcott.

"Occupation: Smallville High Student.

"Intelligence: Above average for the town." Emma recited as she read off her notes on the soul encased in glass.

Harry had easily been able to identify the soul as he was familiar with all of the students. From there it was just a matter of pulling his records and having the telepaths read his mind… although that was a no go as the boys mind was a jumble in this state.

"He's not evil." Harry said with a shrug as he listened to the soul rant. "But he is misguided. Apparently he believes that the meteor shower brought evil to the town and that he is carrying on his father's work by trying to eradicate it. He started by writing articles for the Torch but now, with his father's death he is becoming more hands on."

"I remember his articles." Chloe nodded. "He wrote about the town and culture but often came across as preachy. His work never drew much of a crowd but it worked to pad the paper on slow weeks."

Harry chuckled as he watched the soul. "Yeah, he doesn't appreciate your evaluation Chloe."

"Those are just the facts." Chloe said. "If he had stuck to telling us how things used to be and not telling us how they _should_ be then he might have had more readers."

"What do we do about him now?" Lorna asked.

"Well, you know my policy on attempted murder." Harry said seriously. "It still counts as murder and they shouldn't be rewarded just because they failed to kill.

"I believe he is redeemable though so we will imprison him in the dungeon with a standard sentence and attempt to rehabilitate him."

"Why did he try to frame me though?" Alicia asked.

"Because you were trying to make Clark cheat and he considers it immoral." Harry explained. "That, in his eyes, gave him every reason to make you his patsy."

"What will you tell the Sheriff? People will start to suspect Alicia if we do nothing." Laura pointed out.

Harry hummed thoughtfully. "Well… he's a murderer in my eyes. We can stage his death and if he is successfully rehabilitated then we can release him with a new identity. That should close the case and clear Alicia."

"You can be the one to break it to the Sheriff." Clark said quickly as he teleported out preventing Harry from arguing.

* * *

"Mr. Luthor, we've just received a report from our agents in Smallville." A lackey, whose name Lex had no intention of learning, announced as he stood before his desk.

Lex just raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" He asked boredly. He knew about the agents and so did the rest of the castle residents. They weren't very good at staying hidden… it didn't help that several of their targets had super human hearing and telepathy.

"They report that Timothy Westcott, designated 'Sandman', has vanished from the town. He was last seen entering the high school. As you know we have been unable to get an agent into the building so we don't know what happened as he never left."

Lex suppressed a smirk. He had no idea how Tess managed to stand behind him with a face of stone.

"Another possible asset lost due to _your_ incompetence." Lex sneered. "Warn your teams that this is their last chance. There won't be another."

"Of course sir. I'll go right now." The nameless lackey said nervously as he backed out closing the door behind him.

"Do you know what I hate about playing the bad guy, Tess?" Lex asked as he rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. "It seems far too easy a role to fall back into. I can't help but feel like one day I might forget I'm supposed to be acting."

"That's why you have me and Helen, Lex." Tess placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Not to mention Harry and Clark."

Lex patted her hand in appreciation.

* * *

"Metropolis? You're a billionaire capable of travelling anywhere in the world by walking through a door and you take me to Metropolis for our first date?" Lois asked.

"I thought we could start small. My first date with Kyla was a movie. My first date with Lana was a picnic… they both planned those ones… I think the Cuckoos may have helped."

"I knew I should have listened to Uzume when she said I should tell you were to take me." She grumbled.

Lois was in a long, red, strapless gown. The only reason she wasn't falling out of it was due to magic applied by Kyla. Her makeup had been done by the Goddess of Love and Beauty herself.

And now she was standing in front of a five-star restaurant in Metropolis.

Not Tokyo.

Not Rome.

Not even Paris.

"There are two reasons why I chose this place." Clark explained as he took Lois' hand and tucked it into his elbow. "First, the Amazons and Sekirei are out there right now dealing with any crimes I can hear so I don't feel obligated to run off and leave you. You have my full and undivided attention." He smiled charmingly. "Second, I thought you might like to take a look around the area to see if there are any apartments that catch your eye for when you start attending MU."

Lois looked at him shrewdly. "Alright, I'll buy it for now." She allowed. "Why can't I just stay in Smallville with Chloe and commute with magic or a portal door though? You were going to make them available commercially."

She suddenly looked around nervously. "You did put up one of those privacy spells, right?"

"No one can tell what we are talking about and anyone who sees you will think you are Kyla." Clark assured her.

Kyla was still Clark's public girlfriend. It was explained to the other girls that the current society wouldn't accept a man dating two women. So when he took them on dates they applied a charm that made people think that Clark was out on a date with his girlfriend, which everyone assumed was Kyla.

Xander called it the 'Nothing-To-See-Here' charm. He had developed it so he could take Nym or Fleur out, or even both together.

"We won't be releasing the commercial doors for a while. But there will be a door made available to every major city and then every town in descending order of commercial and tourist draw." They approached the Maitre d'. "Reservation for two under the name Kent."

"Of course Mr. Kent. It is an honour to have you at our humble establishment." The man smarmed.

Clark just gave what Bruce called a 'vapid smile'.

Lois gave what Kyla called an 'airhead smile'.

Kyla had told her that Clark hated when she did it as it made her seem like a trophy, which made him seem like a… douche bag. 'Douche bag' being her abbreviated translation.

Lois enjoyed annoying Clark.

As they sat down and the waiter left with their initial order, Lois continued their conversation. "So if there are going to be portal doors then why can't I stay in Smallville?"

"That desperate to be with me Lois?" Clark smirked.

"Get over yourself Smallville. I'm just thinking of saving money. Or are you going to be charging an arm and a leg to use the doors?"

"Just a couple of dollars." Clark shook his head. "These are meant for travel between communities, not in communities. The money made will go to paying the security staff and paying for the cost of the devices themselves."

"_How_ much do they cost?" Lois asked.

"At the moment they cost around six million dollars."

"And you are going to try and sell them commercially?!" She hissed.

"_At. The. Moment!_" Clark reiterated. "Current versions use a lot of high-tech features and expensive materials. The power source is the problem at the moment. We are working on finding a better way of powering them."

"What do they run on now? Plutonium?" She laughed.

Then she paled when Clark didn't even crack a smile.

"You put a nuclear reactor in those things?"

Now Clark smiled. "Of course not. They run on a miniature singularity."

"A what?"

"A micro black hole."

"One of those galaxy destroying sink holes?" She asked as he skin turned slightly green. "Why?"

"That's how much power it needs." Clark gave a small frown. "Technically it could run on a nuclear source, but there is no real safe way to replenish the fuel every few months. Plus we would quickly run out."

"If these things need so much power then how are you going to make them cheaper?"

"We just need a better and cheaper method to generate the singularities." Clark explained. "Once we've done that we can mass produce them and sell them for around thirty thousand dollars."

"That is a hell of a lot of money for a door."

"Consider the cost of the average new car." Clark suggested as their drinks arrived. "Now consider a car that you never have to fill with petrol and that you can use to transport large quantities in the blink of an eye.

"Now which one is cheaper?"

"Ok I see your point." Lois conceded.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"So is this what you do all day? Work on science and business projects?"

"No. I just read the reports and visit the labs now and again." Clark laughed. "Most of my day is spent making sure the Sekirei and Ashikabi are fine. If there is a major natural disaster or event then I go out in my other persona."

"Yeah, about that." Lois grinned as she leaned forward. "Why 'Superman'?"

"That was Lana and Chloe. They picked it." Clark sighed.

"What were the other choices?" She asked knowingly.

"I refuse to say."

Lois sat back as their starters arrived. "That's fine. I'm sure Chloe will tell me." She smirked.

Lois and Clark spent a fairly nice evening enjoying their meal and trading snappy remarks. Neither actually noticed they were enjoying themselves or each other's company.

Of course neither of them were aware of the nosy group of women watching their date.

"I really don't think Clark would appreciate us watching his private moment with Lois." Diana muttered uncomfortably.

"Hush child and pass the popcorn." Aphrodite waved a hand at her.

"Yes Goddess." The Amazon sighed.

"I told you to call me Aphrodite when we are like this, Diana."

"It seems so wrong though."

"You do not hear me calling Harry 'Lord Death' all the time. There is a time and a place for airs and graces, as they say. When it is family, it is not the time."

"Yes G-Aphrodite."

There was a snicker from the resident non-Amazon, Native American, mutant, witch. "'Gaphrodite'."

"Shut up Danielle." Amara glared at her.

"Spoil sport." She pouted.

"Would you all please cease your nattering?! I am trying to see if my husband will make it to at least kissing." Tsukiumi hissed.

"I've got good odds on Lois getting a foot across the threshold of his room." Matsu grinned.

"Not Clark in Lois' room?" Chloe asked.

"Come on Chlo." Lana laughed. "We both know Clark can be considered forward if he kisses her cheek when they say goodnight."

"Like you're one to talk." The blonde countered. "I haven't been hearing any juicy stories from you."

"Jason and I are very happy taking things slowly. He is very respectful." Lana said primly.

"As Lex once said, that's not respect, that's fear." Dani snickered.

Lana looked at the older woman suspiciously. "What did you do, Dani?"

"Me? Nothing. The Cheyenne Tribe has had no influence on your relationship." Dani smiled broadly.

"And that leaves the Amazon and Kawatche tribes." Lana glared at her dark-haired classmate and now soul mate.

"Me!?" Kyla asked in shock. "I didn't do anything." She protested.

"Of course not." Aphrodite said seriously. "I merely informed young Jason that I would not be pleased if he pressured you into a physical relationship. He will let you lead in that respect."

"_You_ meddled in my relationship?" Lana was slightly hurt.

"Did you really think I would not do everything in my power to ensure your safety and happiness, Daughter? I have already had words with Lex and Xander."

"Erm… Xander?" Dani asked with undisguised curiosity… or nosiness.

"That is not for you to know." The Goddess smirked.

"That is so not cool, 'Dite." Dani pouted. "Throwing out that juicy bit of meat and not even letting us get a bite."

* * *

"You want to go out on a date… with me?"

"Well you don't have to make it sound so ridiculous."

"You're old enough to be my father! My grandfather! Hell! You're old enough to be Adam's grandfather."

"A simple no would have been fine." Xander grumbled.

"I didn't say no." Tess said quickly. "It's just…"

"Look, I have nearly five thousand years worth of memories living in the mortal realm and… well, it's hard to describe the after life as time is different… everything is different.

"Forget my physical age. Just focus on my mental age."

"I've met your son." Tess said dryly. "That's not exactly how I would recommend you try to win me over."

"You've seen me work with your sister Amazons. Work with Clark. Work with all the others. You've worked with me yourself. Think about it and get back to me."

"I will. I promise." Tess nodded.

"Yeah, I'm real happy for you two. Can we get this over with?" The mugger lying at their feet grumbled.

The next thing he knew he was standing in front of a couple of cops with no idea how they had caught him. He just felt a pressing need to confess his crimes.

* * *

**A/N: I mage a boo boo... not the Yogi Bear kind.**

I accidentally called the woman trying to frame Lex Cobie Smulders... D'oh!

I honestly haven't watched the show in over a year and am doing most of this from memory and episode recaps.

It was only because a reviewer pointed it out that it has been corrected.

So... if you go back, a fairly well known actress is no longer responsible for attempted murder.

Incidentally... I'm a Simpsons fan. I watch it, play the tablet game. Play the console games.

Do you KNOW how many times I have accidentally started typing Springfield instead of Smallville? I'm surprised none have slipped through. I think I can safely promise that Clark won't suddenly be called Homer.

I can't promise anything about Harry being called Bart though... or Ku called Maggie.


	61. Chapter 61

Christmas arrived and as with the previous few years the Smallville residents were buzzing with excitement. The town was filled with people who had caught the spirit of generosity like a bug from Harry and his family. Only those with their own sick family members or young children had made plans for Christmas Eve. The rest had cleared their schedules for what was becoming known as the 'Traditional Yuletide Hospital Run'.

Xander had pointed out that this made Smallville sound like a disaster zone… he was kicked in the shin by Dani.

Harry and Clark had spoken at length in private about Harry's plans for this Christmas. There was something Harry wanted to do but it was much too big a decision for him to make on his own. Eventually they had sought the council of Odin and Athena. They wanted it kept a secret for as long as possible, even from the family.

Harry ascended the stairs to the platform with Clark right behind him. Harry had been adamant that if he were going to do this then Clark would be right next to him. This was Clark's home world after all.

The crowd cheered and clapped as they saw Potter and Kent, the town heroes, on the stage.

"My friends. For the past few years we have been starting a bit of a tradition." Harry smiled. "Today we will continue that tradition."

Harry paused as the crowd cheered again.

"But first, there are some things that I want to tell you. As does Clark. There is also something I want to give you. Clark?"

Harry stepped back from the microphone to allow Clark to speak.

"Many of you have watched me grow up from a young boy ever since I was adopted." Clark said quietly. "You've seen me with my parents as they deliver produce to the stores around town. Recently you've watched me as I played quarterback for the high school. Currently you see me on the television and in newspapers as the head of a major company.

"Quite a long way for young farm boy to go." Clark said with a self-deprecating smile.

The crowd chuckled.

"But what most of you know is just… the tip of the iceberg. My origins were hidden from me by my adoptive parents till I was fourteen.

"I was not born in America.

"I was not born on planet Earth.

"I was not born in this solar system.

"I was not born in this galaxy.

"My name is Kal-El, I am Superman."

There was a dead silence over the crowd as magic worked and allowed them to form the connection.

"I have always been strong.

"I have always been fast.

"But most importantly, I have always been Clark Kent.

"Superman was an identity created by my friends so that I could help the world without giving up my private life. They helped and supported me along with my family as I stopped some of the people in our town that tried to hurt us. Most of you don't realise that Tina Greer was a shape shifter that killed her mother, or that Coach Arnold tried to kill Principal Frost, and coaches Summers and Kinney.

"There were others of course. Some I dealt with, others were dealt with by Harry and his family. But we always worked in secret. Not because we wanted to deceive you but because it was the only way to protect ourselves from governments who wanted to study the meteor infected.

"Harry can tell you that most of the town has a meteor power or at least a high level of infection. Its not life-threatening and we now have a way of cleaning up the infection.

"So… you are probably wondering why I am telling you this? Why am I taking such a big risk in telling you?

"The shortest and most important reason is because we trust you. Many of you have suspected that I was more than an average human; but you didn't treat me any differently.

"I hope that with this latest revelation you will continue to trust me."

Clark turned and moved back behind Harry when the crowd suddenly burst out cheering.

Clark was shocked. They had stood there listening to him quietly, almost expressionless. He thought that his time in Smallville had come to an end.

The weight lifted from his shoulders as he realised how wrong he was.

Harry stepped forward with a grin on his face as he slapped Clark on the shoulder.

"My friends, Clark has just told you his simplest secret. But he has not told you everything. The reason for this is that it is better if I tell you.

"I am Death. I am the gateway between this life and the next. I make sure that those who try to abuse immortality die and that the rest of you stay alive as long as you can.

"Pretty outrageous claims, I know." Harry nodded with a grin. "So, for the next ten minutes you can all talk to a loved one or family member that has passed on. Just think of them and they will appear… like this:"

Harry closed his eyes and the crowd watched in awe as ethereal form of a young ebony haired woman appeared.

"This is my first daughter, Luna Potter." Harry introduced her. "Well… go on! Starting calling on them." Harry instructed.

"Clark, meet Luna." Harry escorted his daughter to his brother.

"Nice to meet you. I've met the woman you were named after." Clark smiled as he held out a hand and shook the girl's.

"Aunty Luna, she's brilliant." Luna laughed. "She has most of us organised to after life border patrol."

"What the hell is that?" Harry asked.

"You didn't tell him?" Luna queried Clark.

"We've been a little busy." Clark explained. "Short answer is that the souls on the other side are going to stop any evil souls from crossing over when the Amazon's or Sekirei kill them. That way you can go and clean up later."

"Lovely." Harry said sarcastically. "I've just been delegated as the janitor."

"It could be worse." She countered. "You could be the school teacher in the playground trying to keep the kids from fighting."

"I believe Amara has that job." Clark commented.

"Poor girl." Harry said mournfully.

"Luna, I tried to call my parents. Do you know why they haven't come?"

"Maybe your father isn't working hard enough." Luna said innocently.

Clark frowned.

Then the words made it through his mind.

"LUNA!" He screeched. "Seriously, is this what we can expect from the rest of your kids Harry?"

"That was all Daphne's fault, her mother." Harry sighed. "She took great pleasure in messing with Hermione and Luna here picked up on it.

"If you have finished trying to scar Clark, can you answer his question?"

"I don't know your parents." She said simply. "From what we have discovered they aren't in the after life."

"Then where are they? Were their souls destroyed? Where-"

"Clark, we honestly don't know. You'll just have to keep searching for answers." Luna said compassionately. She turned to Harry. "Time's up Dad. Send us home."

"Talk to you later Sweetheart." Harry kissed her cheek.

"Bye Dad." Luna waved as she faded out.

All around the platform people could be heard crying and calling out goodbye as their loved ones vanished.

"As you can see, I am not without proof." Harry said seriously. "Hopefully we can do this on a yearly basis and you can speak to those who have passed on.

"Here are some of the things you need to know about me as Death.

"One: I am the single most powerful _known_ being in existence. There might be someone more powerful out there but every one from the Green Lantern Corp to the gods of Earth recognise me as the ultimate authority. And yes, there are gods and we will get to them later.

"Two: I am immortal. I can never die. But that hasn't stopped some idiots from imprisoning me… bad things happen to those idiots.

"Three: As Death I am what is called 'An Aspect of Existence'. If I do die, or one of the other Aspects dies, then existence will cease to… exist. Other Aspects include Time, Love and Magic.

"Four: I used to be the Master of Magic… now I _am_ the Aspect known as Magic. This actually happened last year.

"Five: I am an Avatar of Love. An Avatar is someone who is respected and gifted by their Aspect. In turn the Avatar is a Champion for the Aspect and ensures no one abuses them.

"Those are the major points. I will be working with Chloe Sullivan to put out some special newsletters for the town where I will give some interviews with my family. But there are more things you need to know about Clark.

"When I first arrived in Smallville some four years ago now, I met Clark. I could tell by his soul he wasn't human, but also that he was a good person. We went through some pretty fun adventures together," He ignored the derisive snort from behind him. "and he became like a brother to me. I also took him on as my Apprentice.

"Clark Kent is more than an Avatar of Death. He is my right hand. His powers exceed all of those who stand as my Avatars, namely the gods of the Underworld such as Hades, Pluto and Hel.

"If something happens to me then Existence turns to him to put it right and find me. He has a fairly decent track record." Harry smirked.

"Now then, I wanted to give you something. You have become like family to me and you have shown me you are good people. I don't just make sure people don't abuse magicals, I _make_ them magicals."

Harry waved his hand above his head causing words to form in the air.

"This is the Oath of Civilisation. Magical oaths are binding, magic makes sure you can't break them."

There were some cries and squawks of surprise as little podiums materialised in front of everyone.

"I am offering you all magic. All you have to do is place your hands on the podium and make the oath. You will receive the ability to do magic and the knowledge as well.

"Take your time and think about it. I will be supplying the magic for the next two hours until we go to make our regular Christmas Delivery."

* * *

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Now what's your name sweetie?"

The little girl sitting on Santa's lap looked very nervous. "Gemma."

"And have you been a good girl this year, Gemma?"

"Yes Santa. I promise."

"Excellent! Why don't you go and see my happy elves whilst they fish your present out of my bag."

"But I didn't tell you what I want!" She gasped.

"I'm Santa Claus! I know what you want." He laughed.

The girl grinned as she hopped off his lap and ran to where Hikari and Hibiki were dressed in female elf costumes with short green skirts with white fur trim and a long sleeved jacket.

"I can't believe you roped me into this and dared to call it a date." Tess grumbled from beside him as she wore what Xander called her 'Missus Claus' outfit. The same as the elf costume just in red… and with a bit more cleavage showing.

"Tell me you aren't having fun and we'll switch out with Martha and Jonathan. He's been giving me the stink eye for the past half hour. He's just being sour because he lost the coin toss."

"No! I mean… this _is_ fun… but it is _not_ a date." She added hastily. "You will have to do a lot better for a real date." She smirked.

"Fine by me." Xander grinned behind his bushy white beard. "I just wanted to see you in that hot outfit."

"Don't know what you're complaining about girl." Logan grumbled as he marched up with another bag. "You aren't the one having to go out to shops around the world to buy the presents the Triplets say the kids want."

He marched off having dropped the bag in front of his Sekirei, all the while trying to avoid the urge to pull his green elf outfit out of his butt.

"NEXT!" Xander boomed as he watched the next child bounce up to him.

* * *

The streets of Smallville were filled with sparks of multi-coloured magic as everyone from the youngest student of Smallville High to the eldest grandparent played with their new magic.

The castle residents watched with happy smiles.

"What will happen when a visitor comes to town?" One resident came up to Clark and asked curiously.

"They won't notice anything. There are charms on the whole town that make it seem normal. You won't be able to use magic on the streets of Metropolis or anywhere else but you could if you can make sure you aren't noticed." Clark explained.

These were some of the things that Clark and Harry had discussed with Odin and Athena. Athena had used her superior skills of strategy to come up with safety plans and contingencies.

Clark had used his well-developed sense of paranoia that had been building ever since he first met Harry Potter.

* * *

Elsewhere in the town a very nervous young man approached a very intimidating group of beautiful girls.

"Abigail? Could I talk to you? Privately?" Brett Anderson asked; he hoped they had heard the squeak in his voice.

"What do you want with her?" Jodie demanded as she stepped between them.

"I just wanted to talk, honest!" Brett sub-consciously backed up. All around the town various castle residents were telling stories about their adventures. Brett had heard Kazehana telling the romantic story of Clark Kent and his Sekirei. Not to mention the fact that he was the Amazon's god of which Jodi was one.

Clark Kent would forever be mocked in town by boys who were supposed to be his age.

Then he would be worshiped.

Jodie shared a look with Abigail to get her opinion. They also communicated magically.

"Fine. But stay within our line of sight." Jodie instructed as she stepped out of Abigail's path.

Brett just nodded vigorously.

Brett led his younger classmate a few metres away, always glancing back to make sure Jodi could see them.

"Relax Brett." Abigail giggled. "Jodi won't do anything unless you try to be nasty."

Brett rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah, nasty. That's part of what I wanted to talk about. I'm sorry for the way I treated you back then. I was a jerk and you didn't deserve that."

Abigail looked at him suspiciously. "Why are you saying this now?"

"Well… after we had that… thing in the locker room and I went nuts, Doc Potter made me have counselling sessions with Miss Moonstar. See… I remember what happened, it was horrible. I experienced everything I did to you and other horrible things. Doc Potter says they were amplified. So I _know_ what I did to you and I am really sorry."

Abigail could see Brett was sincere. She was surprised that he remembered what had happened. Kyla and Jodie had told her that Harry or the telepaths would usually wipe the memories of terrors.

"I forgive you." She assured him.

Brett breathed out in relief. "Wow, I didn't realise how much I needed that." He laughed.

"Happy to help." Abigail smiled. "I'll see you around then."

"Wait! Abigail, there was one more thing." Brett's nervousness was back. "Would you be willing to go on a date with me? A proper date?"

"Is this just because of all my surgery?" She asked suspiciously.

"What? No! No." He calmed himself a bit. "I had my brother help me with some computer work and…" Brett pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket. "I asked my brother to photo shop one of the old pictures of you. I had him just fix your teeth and skin. You would have been hot with or without the surgery." He said completely unashamed of his observation. "I showed it to Miss Moonstar and she said that being teenagers is a hard time for us humans. Something about our hormones screwing us up whilst our bodies are settling into their final forms."

"She would know. She is one of Doctor Potter's wives." Abigail nodded.

Brett nodded then held out his hand palm up and concentrated on it.

Within seconds he had a white rose sitting there.

"I am definitely not smart enough to get the colour right on my own." He shrugged sheepishly. "Miss Moonstar said white represents beauty and purity. You are beautiful and I hope to keep my intentions pure. Take this and think about it."

He handed the rose over to the blushing Abigail.

Abigail just nodded mutely, completely speechless.

Brett gave a quick wave and a nod to the still glaring Jodi in the distance before he beat a hasty retreat.

"Brett and Abigail sitting in a tree-"

Abigail turned and glared at the, until now unnoticed, Cuckoos.

They just grinned smugly.

* * *

That Christmas and New Year's for Smallville was one that went down in history.

Mainly because no one got drunk.

An entire town of people who had just figured out they could conjure things to eat and drink and not a single thought to conjure a bottle of beer.

Logan was disgusted.

School for the Smallville-ites became even more exciting as a new class was introduced on magical techniques. Lorna was now able to shunt her current students to the high school and wait for more meta-humans to arrive. In the meantime she taught the magical classes with Jodi as her assistant. Jodi had now lived for nineteen years and had the maturity of an Amazon.

An Amazon that wasn't necessarily Kyla.

Clark and his girls helped Lois set up an apartment in Metropolis, they decided it was better to have a place there where she could invite her non-Smallville friends. Plus the Sekirei wanted to stay over and see what the fuss was about.

Kyla had insisted that Chloe and Lana accompany them just to help her and Homura keep the others out of trouble.

Aphrodite had made it clear she was only going so she could laugh at them.

None of the others particularly wanted to stay long. Only Kazehana had any interest in drinking games and she was very hard to get drunk. She stayed for the others, just so she could keep an eye on Lois.

Kazehana was a hard woman to impress. She remained sceptical about many things and it was only the open and honest nature of Clark that had allowed her to accept him as her Ashikabi and lover.

That and the fact that he came with a glowing recommendation from her father.

But Lois impressed her with her ability to hold her liquor. She was drinking boys twice her mass under the table and she was still fairly coherent and capable of standing.

Kazehana had allowed Lois to drink as much and as long as she wanted this time. She had a hangover potion tucked away in her cloak that was currently inactive. As usual she was dressed in her short tight purple dress.

And garnering a lot of attention.

"I love putting noobs in their place." Lois slurred as she stumbled along. Kazehana was keeping a hold of her to keep her straight, but she wasn't about to fall over.

"Take it from someone with experience, Darling. There are better methods than drinking. When a man gets a woman to drink it is usually for one purpose." She warned.

"Yeah… but that's the fun part!" Lois grinned madly. "They think they can get me drunk and get in my pants. But then they get a shock when they fail on so many levels."

"Hey baby. Why don't we go some place quiet and finish this night with our own party?"

"Not today." Kazehana called over her shoulder to Lois' former drinking partner without stopping. She wanted to get Lois home, and she didn't want to cause an incident that would make trouble for Clark or Harry.

"Hey! Come on, you can join in." The young man grinned lasciviously.

"Good night." Kazehana simply called.

"Hey!" He said angrily as he stomped up. "Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"

The man grabbed Kazehana's shoulder and spun her around. He was shocked when Lois' foot impacted his chest sending him sprawling to the floor.

"Don't you _ever_ touch my friends again!" Lois snarled angrily.

The man whimpered on the floor as he rubbed his chest.

"Come Lois. Let us go." Kazehana said firmly as she led the girl away from the groaning man.

* * *

Lois woke the following morning to incessant pounding in her ears and head.

There was a nice counter to this as her head was really comfortable on some nice warm pillows.

Unfortunately she was naked and a pair of feminine hands were clasped around her own… pillows.

She dimly remembered the warnings from Kyla about the Sekirei's unusual sleeping habits and fascination with breasts.

"_Lois Lane! This is the police. You have thirty seconds to open the door before we break it down."_

Lois shot up only to be pulled straight back down by her breasts… or the hands holding them.

"Kaze! Wake up, we have to get dressed." She shook the woman harshly. "BE RIGHT THERE!"

She regretted that… her head _really_ hurt.

"Comfy. Go to sleep." Kazehana grumbled sleepily.

"Erm… I really need to pee." She tried.

"Hold it."

She spared a thought to wonder if Clark had a superhuman bladder if he had to deal with this every morning.

Fortunately she remembered she had magic now. A nice Christmas gift she received from Harry in Smallville.

She sent a quick stinging hex she had learnt from Kyla and Chloe at her bed partner.

"OW!"

"Get dressed, the cops are here." Lois instructed the older and now irritated woman.

Lois quickly jumped out of bed and pulled on her jeans and a t-shirt and cracked the door open.

"What's the problem?" She snapped.

"Can we come in, Miss Lane?" One of the officers asked.

Lois looked behind her. "Not yet. My friend is still dressing. What do you want?" She asked pointedly.

"A David Cooper was attacked last night. You were the last person seen with him and we need you to come down to the station and answer some questions."

"I don't know any David Cooper. I was at a College party with my friend." She jabbed a finger over her shoulder. "We left and came home."

Kazehana appeared over Lois shoulder and the jaws on the officers drooped slightly.

"Hey! Eyes up!" Lois snapped.

"There was that young boy, Coop I think he was called." Kazehana offered.

"Yeah, bastard followed us from the party and tried to get fresh with us. I had to give him a little kick to get him to back off." Lois snarled.

"I'm afraid we definitely need you to come in for questioning. And your friend too. David 'Coop' Cooper was found paralysed last night."

"It was not us then." Kazehana said dismissively. "Lois' kick was not hard and the boy was moving when we left."

"Even so, we need you to come down to get this straightened out."

* * *

"I want to know just what you hope to achieve here, Detective." Loki glared at the man in a suit across the table from her clients, Lois and Kazehana. "Would you like me to list your screw ups or can you figure them out yourself?" She sneered.

"Why don't you enlighten me, Miss?" Detective Cloth sneered right back.

"One: You only have one witness claiming that my clients attacked David Cooper without cause. I have two people who claim otherwise.

"Two: I had my medical experts consult with Cooper's doctors. There are no signs of trauma from a kick. There are barely any signs of a fall. The cause of the paralysis is unknown and not physically visible which more than likely means it has been caused by either an undetectable drug, a form of involuntary psychosis or a being with a power."

"Three: Both Kazehana Potter and Lois Lane are currently covered by diplomatic protection. Something you are clearly aware of."

She finished by pointing to a notation in their files regarding their diplomatic state.

"So tell me, are you going to resign peacefully or should I call IA?"

"I'm thinking I should arrest you for threatening a police officer."

"And I'm thinking you should hand me your badge and gun pending a full investigation by Internal Affairs." Captain Sawyer declared as she stormed in.

Cloth could see he was caught. He had no more moves left. He angrily slammed his badge and gun on the table.

"Goddamned foreigners ruling the country and screwing us over." He snarled. "Bad enough we have these freaks with powers all over the place.

"This isn't over." He declared as he stormed out.

"No. But his career is." Sawyer muttered before turning back to the table. "Two things, first, Miss Lane: You may be covered by diplomatic credentials but you do your sponsor country a great disservice by making such a disgraceful spectacle of yourself. You are underage for drinking in this country and if I could cite you I would.

"If you're that desperate to drink then do it at home at the castle where we can't even see you. Alternatively, the drinking age in Japan is 20."

"18 in North Korea." Loki just shrugged at their looks. "I've been drinking at my Father's table since I was ten. As long as you don't bring dishonour on yourself or abuse the drink my people have no problem with it."

Sawyer rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. "_Secondly:_ I am hearing a lot of anti-foreigner sentiment. Especially amongst the more… patriotic groups. Watch your backs, even you Lane. Having an American General for a father won't help you if you are constantly in the presence of Japanese citizens and officials."

"You saying I should abandon my friends?" Lois challenged.

"That was exactly _not_ what she was saying." Loki rapped her on the back of the head. "Don't be confrontational all the time. She is looking out for you."

"Just pass the message along." Sawyer warned Loki.

* * *

David Cooper was signed over to Dr. Potter who claimed he had the necessary tools to revive him. It had taken Harry about thirty seconds to stick him under Bruce's ray to removed the Kryptonite energy that was paralysing him.

The first words out of the boy's mouth were accusations against his fellow teammate Geoff Johns.

The second words were shrieks of pain as Lois kicked him in the balls for his actions that night.

Fortunately for Coop, he wouldn't remember the pain as Harry Obliviated him of all memories in the castle before transferring him back to the hospital and waking him up.

What he would remember was the short hairy dude with the cowboy hat and the taller lanky guy with the goofy grin that gave him a very memorable lecture on how to treat women.

He swore the tall guy's eyes turned yellow.

Johns was reported as missing the following day. Captain Sawyer put her men on it and his body was soon found with a suicide note confessing his crimes and abilities.

Johns was actually sitting in the castle dungeon, Harry and Jean had hopes this one could be rehabilitated.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not old enough to suffer from senility!**

First I used the real actresses name and then I called Kyla a boy and... I have no idea _what_ I was doing with Tess and Lex's hand and shoulder.

They have all been fixed. The only people who have changed genders are Loki, Thor(from Clark's universe), and no... I didn't change Hippolyta's but that isn't clear in the story and won't really be addressed. I only did Loki as I decided that it was a fitting punishment because the Marvel Loki stole Sif's body... don't mess with Harry's family... even if you _are_ family. The punishment seemed to fit for Thor of Clark's world as well.

Nobody seems to remember that back in Potter's Protector I wrote a scene where Xander called Hermione "Harry's boyfriend". I actually put that in the story because in my head I tend to mix up gender specific nouns. And the proof was clearly in the last chapter...

Next time on Grammar Game: Pronouns!


	62. Chapter 62

"Ok, I am now certain that my mother set me up to meet Lana." Jason said firmly as he marched into the common room of the castle.

When they weren't out on a date Jason occasionally visited the castle where Lana lived. He knew he would have to share Lana with her sisters but most of them were supportive.

Kyla was warming up to him.

Just a bit.

"Explain, little one." Xander instructed with an air of an elder.

There was a large assortment of rolled eyes.

"Lana told me about those stones you were all searching for. She said one was in China. Guess where my mother offered to send us for a holiday?" He said with heated sarcasm.

"You think she wants the stones?" Lorna asked.

Jason looked at Lana curiously. "You didn't tell them about your shared history with my family?"

Lana slumped in exhaustion. "It's been so hectic. Christmas, Tim Westcott, Alicia and the Sheriff, Alicia and Clark, Lois, Lois and Clark, Lois and Metropolis PD… plus I have my patrols in Metropolis, my shifts at the Talon _and_ my school work!"

Jason just looked at her with a blank expression. "So that would be a 'no' then?"

The look on Lana's face did not bode well for the Smallville High Assistant Football Coach.

"Run boy! Run!" Xander hissed.

Jason suddenly realised that a good few of the other females were glaring at him.

"I mean… right, it's been a tough few months. Invasions and all that. Why don't I tell them?" He offered hastily.

Now Xander was smirking right along with the others.

"Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux worked for Duchess Gertrude… one of my ancestors. Old Gerty was searching for these powerful stones that would let her rule the world.

"Izzy wanted them for herself and Gerty had her burned at the stake as a witch… even though she was a witch herself.

"With her dying words, Izzy cursed Gerty's line declaring that her ancestor would awaken her and allow her to kill each of Gerty's heirs." Jason told the story with all the reverence he could muster… none.

"How do you know all this?" Scott asked seated between Emma and Amara. "It can't have all been written down."

"Sure it was." Jason nodded seriously. "Don't all women write diaries? Ow!"

Lana glared at him as he rubbed his chest. "Now tell them how you found out where to find the _journal_."

"You didn't try time travel, did you?" Brunhilde asked worriedly.

"Me? No!" He assured them. "I may have asked Barry if he could see through time without going through time though." He winced as he waited for the backlash.

"That is very impressive Mr. Teague." Emma said approvingly.

Jason was fairly shocked to see the older residents agreeing with her.

The younger, native, residents were just as surprised as he was at their acceptance.

"He meddled with time and you-"

"Uh uh!" Harry interrupted Kyla with a smile. "He specifically _didn't_ meddle with time. He didn't even _ask_ to meddle with time. He asked to see through time into the past.

"The only people who would be able to feel any effects are seers."

At that moment, a soaking Cassandra teleported into the room dressed in a dressing gown and slapped Jason across the face. "Don't ever ask Barry to spy on me in the shower again!"

"But I didn't!" Jason protested as he rubbed his sore cheek.

"Oh yes you will." Harry grinned. "Cassandra, he did it on my orders. I apologise but I didn't think he would catch you in a state of undress. I just wanted to see if you would notice someone watching you through time."

"Can't I _not_ do it now?" Jason begged. He was getting glares from Kyla again. Lana was clearly trying not to laugh.

"You have to. It has happened and it will happen. Unless you want to create an alternate timeline." Harry shrugged. "Those tend to suck – umfph."

Harry's eyes crossed as Cassandra slowly lowered her foot. "Next time be more specific and make sure they check I am available before they start peaking on me." She glared at him.

A very panicked Barry suddenly teleported in. "Harry, Jason, watch out. Cassandra's on the war pa- oh… never mind." He quickly vanished, but no one missed the red handprint on his cheek.

"Why do _I_ get a kick in the gonads?" Harry groaned.

"Because for you, that is the equivalent of a slap on the face." She smirked triumphantly. "I could always have Jean burn you."

"The kick is fine." Harry said quickly as the pain had already vanished.

"As long as you have learnt your lesson, I am going out. Miya?"

"I am ready, Cassandra." The purple-haired goddess smiled as she rose and followed the seer out.

"Where are those two going?" Xander wondered out loud.

"That is none of your business." Amara glared at her father-in-law.

Xander held his hands up defensively. "Jeeze, just idle curiosity."

"She's going on a date with a friend from the retirement home." Neville sighed as ignored the glares sent his way. "She asked for either myself or Miya to accompany her as a chaperone. Miya jumped at the chance.

"If you make fun of her for this I _will_ burn you. Both of you." He said pointedly.

"What did I do?" Harry asked defensively.

"You got adopted by him." He jerked a finger at Xander. "Except you also took magical adoption vows. Sirius always said that James was far more responsible than Xander, when he heard about the magical adoption he explained that you would begin to take on some of your parents traits."

"Which explains where he got the ability to teach from: Minerva. And his caring nature: Joyce." Xander nodded.

"No, he could have gotten those from you. Or do you not remember our very first conversation?" Neville smirked.

* * *

Jack McArthur was feeling very uncomfortable as he sat in the town's only restaurant with the young and pretty Cassandra. He had been heart broken when she had died, they were always constantly flirting, but they never did anything about it. Both of them thought they were too old.

But then on Christmas Eve after everyone hears Harry's revelation, the newly rejuvenated Cassandra introduces herself.

And here he was, and eighty-three year old man on a date with a twenty-year-old looking girl.

Forget cradle robbing… he felt like a damned paedophile.

"Seriously Cassie, you are gorgeous, why would you want to waste your youth on an old codger like me?" He grumbled.

"How are your fingers? Still causing you trouble?" She seemingly ignored is question.

"Never better. I can actually hold my knife and fork." He grinned as he brandished the implements in question.

"Everyone in town will gradually start to get younger until they reach their physical prime." She explained. "It is something that naturally occurs when around Harry Potter.

"You and I will live to be upwards of four thousand years old and still look like young adults."

"Four _thousand_ years?" Jack asked with wide eyes.

"Think about all the changes we will witness. I've seen a lot of them already in my visions, but we will get to experience them as well."

"Us, together?" He asked hopefully. He had long known about Cassandra's gift, he was one of the people she would confide in.

"I'm not going to make it _that_ easy on you." She smirked.

"Bah! Women!" Jack grumbled good-naturedly.

* * *

It was decided that they would take absolutely no action when it came to Genevieve Teague.

Or 'Jenny' as Xander had taken to calling her.

Genevieve had offered to send them to China so Harry offered to send them to Italy… during the summer break.

They would do the exact opposite that she wanted and wait as long as possible to do it just to see what she would do next.

Harry and Xander were clearly enjoying themselves too much.

Tess had arranged her own date with Xander.

Xander had declared his plan was working.

Neville had to stop himself from strangling his adopted father.

The date was fairly nice. No interruptions, just several nosy daughters-in-law and too many jokes from Xander.

Fortunately Neville had coached Tess before hand on how to deal with Xander's… sanity… or lack thereof.

Whilst Tess was out with Xander, Neville had asked out Pamela. The current handmaiden of the future May Queen was shocked and surprised. Neville had stood there patiently smiling whilst she stuttered her way through arguments about a high-ranking being dating a lowly handmaiden when she realised he was actually smiling at little Kusano who was glaring up at her.

Ku had taken Pamela straight to Kazehana and told her that Pamela was refusing to date Uncle Neville.

An hour later and Pamela was all dressed up in a glamorous evening gown with lots of skin on show.

An hour after that Helen and Laura had her dressed in something a little more conservative that made her more comfortable.

Despite this, Neville and Pamela's date was more of a success. Mainly because the young handmaiden was completely enamoured and swept off her feet by the handsome Brit.

* * *

Over the weekend a major event was to take place. Everyone from Harry and Kusano to Jason and Cassandra would be present. Batman, The Flash, Hawkgirl, Hal, Sinestro and the Guardian known as Ganthet were present.

Standing in the Kawatche Caves, they watched as Clark assembled the Stones of Power before inserting them in to the console in the hidden chamber.

As soon as Clark vanished the magicals grabbed the Sekirei and teleported straight to him.

They found themselves standing in the frozen snowy Arctic. Warming charms were quickly applied.

"Harry, do I still have my soul?" Clark asked nervously. After helping with building and designing the portals he was very wary of teleporters that destroyed your body in one place only to rebuild it in another.

"Don't worry, you're fine." Harry assured him.

"Most of the teleporters we have used transmit our energy with the body." Brunhilde explained. "Our souls tend to follow along, so you don't have to worry about being killed over and over again."

"Still, feels like something to be wary about." Xander shuddered.

"What happens now?" Dani asked eagerly. "You still have the stone, so what do you do with it?"

"This." Clark drew back his arm and threw it lightly in the air. It landed about a mile away in the snow.

"Ok… now wha –whoa!" Dani stumbled slightly as the ground began to shake.

"Everyone into the air." Neville ordered.

Again the magicals all grabbed a Sekirei and rose up.

They watched in amazement as a crystal structure grew from the small stone.

"Ok… _that_ is impressive." Logan nodded.

"_What_ is that?" Dani queried.

"Only one way to find out." Harry shrugged as he caused the whole group to move forward in the air.

"I want my Sekirei on the outside." Clark ordered. "Monitor the outside and keep an eye out for activity from the structure or from the horizon. "Miya, Uzume, you come inside."

"Clark, if that's a repository of information, shouldn't I come with you?" Matsu asked.

"I've got two experts coming in already, I want you on the outside in case we need someone to try and break in.

"Smallville Amazons, you pair up with the Sekirei.

"All civilians wait outside. Jason, Cassie, you are in charge."

"Aw… I don't get to be one of the first inside the cool alien structure?"

"Jason, the last few alien structures have tried to control me or kill me." Clark pointed out.

"You heard the man kiddies, Cassie and I are in charge." Jason blustered.

"Clark-"

"Just keep him out of trouble Ryan."

"Hey!"

"I'll help!" Kusano offered.

"_HEY!_"

"See you in a few minutes." Clark waved at his littlest Sekirei.

"Ok, which one of you bastards turned my boyfriend into a paranoid son of a bitch?" Kyla demanded as they separated from the others, she wasn't going to be separated from her soul mate for this. "OW!

"I swear to god Miya, one of these days." Kyla grumbled as she rubbed her head.

"Kyla, if you hung around Harry enough, even you would become paranoid." Amara patted the younger woman on the back.

"Oi!"

"Does anyone have any observations on what we are seeing?" Neville asked as they floated inside the structure.

"It's crystal, not ice." Clark noted.

"Not any type of material found on Earth." Amara added.

"No metal." Lorna offered.

"These crystals are Kryptonian, just like the ones in Clark's ship." Brunhilde scowled. "I vote for blowing the whole damned thing up now."

"As much as I understand your desire to avoid confrontations with Kryptonian AI's due to previous encounters, I beg you to hold off until we have had a chance to examine the database." Ganthet pleaded.

"Relax, if necessary we will call in a friend and purge the AI." Scott assured the small alien.

A voice suddenly surrounded them as they touched down.

"Welcome Kal-El. I have been waiting for you."

"Ah shit." Harry grumbled.

Miya stood there confused as she stared at the feather that had replaced her ladle.

Xander tried to look innocent.

"Somebody go and get the Vision, please." Clark asked wearily. He had no intention of even humouring the AI.

"Who are these people you have brought?" Jor-El asked.

Clark ignored him as he headed for a nearby console made of long crystals. "Brunhilde, Laura, can you help me figure this out?"

The two tech-savvy women joined Clark at the console.

"This place is a representation of Krypton. Humans have no place here." Jor-El declared. "Leave now."

"Seriously, if we ever find your dad's soul I'm having Harry put him in a body just so I can kick him in the balls." Dani groused.

"I am Ganthet of The Guardians. I can vouch for these people." The little blue guy said as he stepped forward with Hal and Sinestro flanking him.

"The Guardians." Jor-El repeated thoughtfully. "They were considered as carers for my son. But they were not chosen. Likely due to their peace-keeping policy that would prevent Kal-El from ruling Earth."

Ganthet raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't believe Krypton was in any position to conquer another planet, regardless of how much more advanced they were. Krypton was suffering from geo-planetary destabilisation as a result of their civil war."

"And where were The Guardians in Krypton's hour of need?" Jor-El countered.

"Where Krypton demanded we be." Ganthet retorted calmly. "Out of Kryptonian affairs."

"That was a sad day." Sinestro nodded. "The Corp mourned the loss of the people and culture."

"Your words mean nothing when Krypton is- Kal-El, what are you doing?" The AI suddenly asked.

A beam of light shot out of various crystals causing the various beings in the room to become immobilised.

"Clark, Harry?" Laura called out as she tried to fight the containment.

"Patience Sweetheart." Harry called out calmly.

"Until you learn your place my son, you will be stripped of your powers." The AI continued.

"Harry, this thing is more powerful than the cave." Clark said as he struggled to call on his divine lightning.

"Patience young grasshopper." Harry chided. "Let's face it, there isn't a single thing this poor excuse for a calculator can do that I cannot fix."

"This fortress must remain secret and hidden from all but the Last Son of Krypton. I cannot affect the mind of a Guardian so I must kill you all. Do not worry my son. You will not remember them."

"Why exactly would that _not _cause me to worry?" Clark wondered.

"FOR ASGARD!"

"FOR THE THUNDERER!"

"FOR KAL-EL!"

The thunderous shouts from outside the crystal fortress caused the whole place to shake.

Then the destruction began.

With the very first strike large beam like crystals fell to the floor with thunderous crashes.

"ALERT! The Fortress is under attack!" Jor-El boomed as the ice began to glow red.

"Is this going to get messy?" The Flash asked.

"It's already messy, Flash." Hal pointed out.

"And now I am going to add to it." Clark growled as the beam holding him finally weakened. He burst into a being of pure lightning as he started pounding on the control console turning it to dust in seconds and releasing the others.

"Erm… have you ever seen Thor look like that?" Lorna asked Loki.

"The most Thor can do is cover his hammer in lightning. I have never seen him take on a form of lightning."

Clark's entire body was one big solid light with arcs of lightning dancing over his exterior. His hammer seemed to now be of a similar construction and was held firmly in his hand as stood angrily over the remains of the console, his chest heaving with anger.

"Harry… what do I do now?" Clark asked cautiously as he tried to calm down.

"Try relaxing. You were tense, now stop being tense." Harry shrugged.

"I'm finding that a little difficult at the minute." Clark admitted, the tension clear in his voice.

He was purposefully keeping his distance due to some of the arcs of lightning striking out at the crystals.

"Clark, you seem to persistently break more rules than Uncle Harry."

The group turned to see Thor and Sif walk in accompanied by The Vision.

"Thor! How do I stop this?" Clark asked relieved to see his sort of mentor/nephew.

"In truth, I have never achieved this level of control over our element." Thor admitted as he approached and began circling Clark. "I have seen other beings whose bodies were made like yours though." He added with a look to Harry.

"Usually I had to build bodies for those individuals." Harry admitted. "Their power had literally destroyed their original bodies.

"Normally I would have to work with our scientists to block off that particular power. I'd rather not mess around with what appears to be a divine ability." He said seriously.

"So I'm stuck like this?" Clark asked.

"You have all the medical training you need to create a body for someone and you are the only other person I know of with the power to do it on your own." Harry mused. "My advice is to go somewhere and meditate whilst you attempt to build a body around yourself."

Harry paused and looked Clark straight in what would have been his eyes, but were now two glowing orbs of power.

"You are as unique as I am Clark and just like me there are some things you will need to learn and discover on your own. The rest of us will have to make do with your stories of what happened."

Clark's shoulders sagged as he sighed. "I guess now I just need to find some place to meditate."

"I recommend using your home in Asgard." The native Odin suggested as he walked in with the native Baldur. "We are quite used to the thunder and lightning that my sons are known for." He added with a small yet proud smile. "Hopefully my daughter will raise the hopes of our people with her own displays as she grows."

"Thank you All-Father." Clark said with a respectful bow. "I will return when I have… achieved something."

"I will stay on Midgard in your stead Brother." Baldur assured him.

"You are not getting out of your duties so easily my son." Odin said with a stern look but eyes filled with amusement. "I am sure Lord Thor and Lady Sif would be willing and far more able as they at least know how to blend in with the mortals."

"Better luck next time." Clark chuckled before he vanished in a burst of lightning and a clap of thunder.

It was several minutes before Harry was able to heal everyone's eardrums from the volume. Including the Aesir.

* * *

Clark managed to meditate for a full twenty-four hours before he was interrupted. He could easily go longer as it was something Harry had taught him to do for weeks during their time in the past.

"Aren't you supposed to be a prince up here?"

Clark sighed as he heard the familiar yet no longer irritating voice of Lois Lane.

"Yeah, but he's also pretty much a Viking God so you have to give him some slack for that."

And there was Kyla.

Clark opened his eyes and relaxed. It was just Kyla and Lois for now. There wouldn't be a sudden invasion of Asgard.

"You do realise I am supposed to be concentrating here?" He said pointedly.

"You were supposed to be trying not be an imitation light bulb. Looks like you succeeded and decided to hide from your loving wives and soul mates." Lois smirked.

"I managed to re-grow my body within minutes." Clark explained. "I had the residual lightning contained within two hours. I have spent the rest of the time trying to re-create the phenomenon."

"Why would you do that?"

"And you still haven't got it?"

Both girls asked simultaneously.

Kyla indicated Lois should go first.

"Why do you want to recreate it? It didn't look comfortable."

"It wasn't at first." Clark admitted. "But I need to know how to trigger it. I have several women who would be fairly upset with me if I woke them up in the middle of the night with the equivalent of a lightning bolt."

"You cast lightning in your sleep?" Lois asked sceptically.

"Not since I first became a god. Thor had to spend that first night trying to reign in the thunderstorm my nightmares had caused."

"Some nightmares." Lois muttered, clearly she was slightly impressed.

"Kyla?" Clark prompted his other soul mate to continue her question.

"Why has it taken so long?" She asked. "To re-create it, I mean."

"I don't know." Clark said honestly. "I have tried to imitate everything including my memories."

"Have you been back to the Fortress?" Lois asked.

"You think it might have been triggered by Jor-El?" Kyla queried.

"Or the crystals. Or the combined energies of all the gods and aliens attacking the Fortress at the time." Lois shrugged.

"Well… I hate to leave this type of mystery unsolved, but your suggestions have a lot of merit." Clark sighed as he stood up. "I will call this a failed experiment for now and something to be aware for the future.

"Now, why exactly did you come up here? I haven't been gone that long and I thought I had adjusted the time dilation."

"You did." Kyla grinned. "But we got back to the castle to find Sam and Gabe there with Lois' sister. Someone lost her backbone and begged me to help her escape."

"Tattletale."

"Coward."

"Snitch."

"Yella' belly."

"Ladies!" Clark called out quickly. These two could be as bad as Xander and Neville. "I didn't intend to stay here any longer than I have. Why don't we all go down and see just why it is that Lois fears her little sister?" He finished with an evil grin.

"You bastard!" Lois screeched just before they vanished from Asgard.

* * *

Clark sat down at the table in the Talon where the subject of his search was already seated. Ordering at the counter where an annoyed Lois and a clearly happy Kyla.

"So, your Lucy Lane."

"Oh. My. God."

"Sister of Lois Lane."

"Oh my god."

"And daughter of Sam Lane."

"Omygodohmygodohmygod!"

Clark frowned before turning in his seat and calling out: "Lois, I think your sister is broken."

"Then fix her Smallville." Lois called back without looking. "I will not be explaining this to my dad."

Clark harrumphed before turning back to the now blushing Lucy Lane. "Do I need to get you a paper bag or something?"

"You're Clark Kent." She stated dumbly.

"Facial recognition software appears to be working." Kyla grinned as she sat down next to her boyfriend.

"And you're here! In Smallville!"

"As is the Global Positioning System."

"Right in front of me."

"Proximity sensors: Operational."

"I think I need a drink."

"Ah… engine lubrication required: Please see an authorised dealer."

"Hey! There will be no 'lubricating' of my sister." Lois glared at Kyla as she took a seat next to her sister.

It was a rule of thumb that whenever Kyla was around Clark, none of his other girls would sit next to him if possible just in case they forgot themselves and made inappropriate displays of affection.

"Hey! I decide who gets to lube me up!" Lucy argued. Then she turned a deep red. "I can't believe I just said that in front of Clark Kent."

"Lois, what have you been telling your sister?" Clark asked tiredly as he sat back.

"Nothing! I didn't even tell her I knew you!" Lois defended herself.

"_That_ is probably the problem." Kyla pointed out.

"We should probably get the fact that you know Bruce Wayne and Harry Potter out of the way then." Clark laughed.

"And Virgil Swann, The Prime Minister of Japan, the Emperor of Japan… I think that's it." Kyla frowned thoughtfully as she tried to think of other famous people Lois knew who weren't classified… like Aphrodite and Odin.

"Does Daddy know about this?" Lucy rounded on her sister angrily.

"He knows." Lois said with a calmness that only seemed to emphasise her displeasure with her father for the way he got involved. Lois' phone began to ring and she checked the caller ID. "Speak of the devil. I'll take this outside."

Lucy watched her sister walk away before she turned back to Clark. "So, you must be pretty loaded."

"Wow, bluntest and dumbest question ever." Kyla snorted.

Lucy clearly thought she could be competition for Kyla as she smirked at the older girl.

"So what do you do for _fun_?" She asked flirtatiously.

"Me." Kyla smirked superiorly. "Repeatedly."

"I bet that must cost a lot." Lucy snarked.

Kyla raised an eyebrow but didn't respond.

"So Clark-"

"Lucy, do you really think the best way to get to know me is to attempt to flirt with me in front of my girlfriend and insult her?" Clark asked calmly. "Because if you do… you really need to research me better."

"Insulting who?" Lois asked as she came back and glared at her sister.

"She pretty much called me a gold digger." Kyla shrugged.

"That's it. Get up Lucy. Dad called and he wants us back at the house. Clark, he asked for you to accompany us." She said with a shrug. She had no idea what was going on, just that her dad refused to give more details.

"I'll see you back at the castle." Kyla kissed Clark lightly before leaving.

As Clark, Lucy and Lois exited the Talon, Clark glanced at Lucy and noticed her texting on her phone. He never spared it another thought.

Outside a black Escalade stretch limo pulled up.

This was an unusual sight as even Lex and Lionel would use a simple town car with a driver and not a limousine.

Then Xander Harris jumped out of the drivers seat in a full driver's uniform, complete with cap and gloves.

"Mr. Kent, Miss Frost asked me to come and pick you up and take you to General Lane at the Sullivan home." He said respectfully.

Clark frowned; this was very irregular as it meant leaving his own truck parked in town. He decided not to mention it. He didn't bother querying mentally as Xander hadn't attempted it yet.

"Thank you… Harris. We'll head straight there." He instructed calmly as he headed for the door that Xander opened for him.

Once they were on their way Clark made his excuses and pulled out his phone to check what was going on.

Of course the phone was simply a ruse to cover the telepathic conversation with Emma.

All Clark had to do verbally was pretend to ask for a report over the phone and go 'mmhmm' a lot.

"_Emma? Are you there?"_

"_Just waiting for your call darling."_ He could hear her smirk.

"_So what is the situation if you have Xander playing chauffer?"_ He asked.

"_Unfortunately I don't know much, an envoy from the Japanese Embassy arrived an hour or so ago and advised us to make every effort to keep our secrets from Lucy Lane. They also said they would be making a report of their findings to General Lane and that one of us might want to be there."_ She explained with the seriousness and professionalism of a seasoned X-Man.

"_So you volunteered me to be there? Alright, Kyla is headed home so it will just be me and Xander."_

"_Understood. Laura and Scott are on standby if you need back up."_

"_Thanks, I'll see you later."_ Clark cut his end of the connection, which essentially meant throwing up his mental walls. If Emma or another telepath wanted to contact him they would send the equivalent of a mental nudge.

They quickly arrived at the Sullivan house and Clark ended his fake phone call as Xander held the door for them and they headed into the house.

Seated in the living room were Sam, Gabe and a Japanese man in a suit with a briefcase. Sam was scowling as he read some papers in a file.

"Lucy, take a seat." Sam said seriously. "Mr. Kent thank you for coming."

"I am an unaware of the situation just that one of the family was requested." Clark nodded.

"Mr. Hashimoto, if you could begin your report." Sam turned to the Japanese man.

"I am Hashimoto Arata, envoy from the Japanese Embassies Security Force." The man stood and bowed deeply which Clark returned not as deep but respectfully for a man of his position. "We are tasked with running checks and investigations on all individuals that our ambassadors and diplomatic envoys come into contact with or are due to meet. Yourself and your family come under our purview.

"We ran checks on Miss Lois Lane and General Lane and when we heard that you would be meeting Miss Lucy Lane we investigated her as well."

"A problem with Lucy then." Clark nodded as he heard the girl's heartbeat quicken.

"Regrettably so." Hashimoto nodded. "Due to her status as a minor we felt that we should approach General Lane first and inform him. He immediately asked for you to be present when we told him not an hour ago."

Hashimoto looked to Sam who nodded that he should continue. Sam was clearly quite angry and upset.

"Our investigations revealed that Miss Lucy Lane has been involved in illegal actions with a man known as 'Marcus Becker'. He is a known, if un-prosecuted, criminal."

"Why hasn't he been prosecuted?" Clark asked as Lois glared at her sister.

"We believe he has been paying off police and prosecutors or even lawyers."

"What illegal activities has Lucy been involved with?"

"Blackmail, extortion and scams. We believe that she intended to attempt to swindle money from yourself or Dr. Potter at some point due to the communications we picked up between Miss Lane and Mr Becker."

"You hacked my phone?!" Lucy was horrified.

"Actually, Miss Lane, we hacked Mr. Becker's phone. You just happened to have called it."

"I can't believe she isn't denying it!" Lois said angrily. "You were really going to just try and steal from my friends? You don't think they were smart enough to figure you out?"

"Why deny it?" She asked dismissively. "We both know Daddy will just send me back to school and make it go away."

"Make it go away?" Sam asked dangerously. "I never make your little indiscretions 'go away'. You have a fairly extensive juvenile sheet. Now you've decided to run with the big kids." He pointed out with narrowed eyes. "You get big kid punishments."

"You're going to turn her in?" Lois asked curiously.

"I need to talk to… some of Mr. Kent's friends first. We will see how things go from there." The General then turned to Clark. "I have spoken to Martha and Jonathan Kent and they have agreed to put her to work temporarily and house her.

"I can't ask Gabe to take more time off work for this and they have enough people that they can keep an eye on her."

"I can escort her there now if you want." Clark offered. "Are her bags ready?"

"They are in my car, I was planning to drive her up straight away." Gabe answered.

Clark looked to Sam and gave him a nod. "Gabe and I will handle the bags then. We'll meet you outside when you are ready."

Sam nodded in appreciation for the consideration Clark was giving him. It was easy to forget at times that the seemingly eighteen-year-old young man was actually over one hundred now.

Mr. Hashimoto, Gabe and Clark headed outside only to find a black humvee parked there with Miya, Kazehana, Homura and Yume standing at attention and dressed in black unmarked military battle dress uniforms.

"Harris, can you help Gabe put Miss Lucy Lane's bags in our car please." He called out to his waiting driver.

"Yeth math-ter!" Xander lisped before limping away with a hunched back.

"And there goes professionalism." Clark muttered as he saw Yume and Kazehana trying not to laugh. He approached the Sekirei. _"Report."_ He ordered in Japanese.

Miya responded in kind. _"Threat levels have been raised. Musubi and Matsu were accompanying Kyla home and they were ambushed."_ Miya explained. _"The girls left one survivor who has been interrogated and revealed he was working for Marcus Becker to try and extort ransom from you._

"_Plans are being made to apprehend Becker and end the threat."_

"_Homura, please inform whoever is planning the operation that I will be joining as part of the assault team."_

"_Is that wise Clark?"_ Miya asked as a friend and as the Chief Sekirei responsible for his safety.

"_A few years ago when Harry and Amara were attacked by Lionel's men, Lex explained to Captain Sawyer that we all train vigorously in self-defence. Occasionally it is good to display those skills and send a warning."_ Clark smiled.

"_Should we include Kyla on the team then?"_ Kazehana asked.

Clark nodded in agreement. _"Excellent idea… and thank you for preventing me from getting trouble with her later."_ He gave a sheepish grin.

"I will meet you at the castle once I have helped Lois hand off Lucy to my parents." Clark informed them in English.

"We will follow." Miya said firmly.

"All packed up boss." Xander informed Clark.

It was an angry trio of Sam, Lois and Lucy that exited the house.

"Miss Lane, please hand over your cell phone and any other forms of electronics." Homura instructed the youngest of the group.

"What? No way!" She snapped.

"Do it Lucy, that's an order." Sam snapped back.

"Make me!"

Sam looked to Homura and gave her a nod.

In a flash Lucy was sprawled against the side of the humvee and being patted down.

"Hey! Get o-ow!" Her complaints were cut off as Kazehana held her very tightly by the shoulders.

Miya approached and addressed Lucy as Homura pulled out an electronics detection device and began using that. "Miss Lane, there are two ways we can do this. One: You ride in the passenger section of Mr. Kent's limo calmly and in a well-behaved manner.

"Two: We bind your hands and toss you in the trunk of Mr. Kent's limo."

"Lucy, just do as your told. Even if I was inclined to, I can't help you out of this one. You and your friend targeted the wrong people." Sam pleaded.

Lucy was shocked to hear the tone her father was using, he almost sounded scared.

"Fine, but I will be suing your asses when the courts clear me." She sneered at Miya.

"The trunk it is." Miya nodded to Yume who spun the girl around and held her hands for Kazehana to zip-tie them before she tossed the screeching girl in the trunk of the limo that Xander held open with a smile.

"Please _try_ not to kill my daughter." The General requested.

"If we wanted her dead, she would be dead." Kazehana shrugged. It had that all to common effect on Gabe and Sam that most men suffered. As her shoulders went up and down, so did the eyes of the men.

Unfortunately the human eye is attracted to movement so men weren't the only victims of Kazehana's… charms.

"So… should we take the back roads?" Xander asked with a malicious grin.

"The back road?" Lois asked.

"He means the dirt tracks that will give Lucy a bumpy ride." Clark explained.

"Oh, do that then." Lois nodded.

"We need to do this quickly so I can get back to the castle. Take the quickest route." Clark instructed his driver.

"Quickest? I can do that!" Xander said happily as he jumped in the drivers seat.

Clark opened the door for Lois as Xander had forgotten in his excitement.

"I'll meet you at the castle so I can talk to Miss Aquilla." Sam told them as he and Gabe got into Gabe's car. Sam couldn't drive yet as he hadn't trained for his missing arm which couldn't easily be replaced without raising eyebrows. Sam wasn't worried as he felt better just knowing it was possible.

* * *

"You know, people are going start believing that we are running a prisoner work release program and not a farm." Jonathan grumbled as he accepted custody of Lucy Lane. "First Hippolyta and now Miss Lane here."

"Don't forget you roped Lois and Kyla into working for you after they committed the foulest of crimes." Clark smirked.

"Not as perfect as you think you are then?" Lucy mocked her sister.

"The foul crime was waking Jonathan up too early." Lois scoffed. "Mister Grumpy-Pants just knows how to hold a grudge."

"I spend all my life waking up early and I cherish those late mornings! You two girls somehow managed to pick two days when I would be lying in!"

"Alright, Lois, if you want you can stay here and argue with Dad. I need to get back to the castle." Clark interrupted.

"I'll stay here. I want to make sure Lucy doesn't cause trouble for your parents."

"I don't need you watching over my shoulder!" Lucy snapped. "I can take care of myself!"

"I'm not staying to protect you Lucy. I'm staying to protect the Kents _from_ you. They are some of the most decent people I have met aside from Uncle Gabe and I won't let you hurt them." Lois snarled.

"Lois, take it easy." Jonathan said calmingly. "I have plenty of people on the farm to keep her in line."

"I'm still staying. I'll catch up with you later Smallville."

"Alright."

Lois was a little confused as the others all left except Kazehana and Yume.

"I thought you guys were part of Smallville's bodyguard team."

Kazehana gave a small smile. "The recent… developments warrant you your own bodyguards."

"You're going to follow me everywhere?!" Lois asked incredulously.

Jonathan barked a laugh. "Welcome to my world Lois." He said as he jabbed a finger at the group of Amazons disguised as farm hands behind him.

"At least yours can't follow you into the bathroom." Lois grumbled.

Jonathan turned to the girls behind him. "You hear that Anna? You can't follow me into the bathroom."

Lois just stared at them in disbelief.

* * *

"Harry, what do you think you are doing?"

Clark had arrived back at the castle and joined the planning session in the Great Hall only to see what he instinctively knew to be Harry using his form.

"Rather than putting you in danger, I can go in and it won't hurt at all." Harry shrugged Clark's shoulders.

"You're an idiot." Clark said calmly.

"What? It's a good plan! If I get shot it will look like real, if you get shot it will look weird because bullets bounce off you." Harry argued.

"Which is why we have bullet proof vests, armoured helmets _and_ telepaths who can alter what people remember.

"What do you think will happen if they have something really dangerous that could put you out of action?" Clark challenged.

"I eventually figure it out or you rescue me." Harry smiled widely.

"Is that before the gods all get jumpy and storm the place? You _know_ how close they are to storming the planet and taking control. They don't like the fact that humans have managed to create ways to combat gods. They just need an excuse and you will have multiple pantheons patrolling the streets of every major city.

"Do you not remember what happened in the Hidden City?" Clark argued.

Harry's mouth opened and closed dumbly.

"I did warn you Uncle." Loki smirked.

Harry pouted as he released Clark's form and reverted back to his natural form.

"I never get to have any fun anymore."

"No one said you couldn't come." Clark said with a wry smile. "You just can't try and guilt the rest of us into not coming."

* * *

Marcus Becker was one step above your average criminal. Instead of having a base of operations or making temporary bases out of warehouses and the like, he used constantly moving lorries. He also made a habit of crossing state lines whenever possible to create jurisdictional issues for anyone chasing him.

Currently he was travelling along the Colorado/New Mexico border. Several unmarked cars and vans drove in irregular patterns around the lorry making it harder for anyone to tell they were part of Becker's convoy.

Unless, of course, you have several telepaths tracking you.

When a team of individuals dressed in black jumped from a nearby bridge onto the back of the lorry, it became quite obvious which vehicles were part of the convoy as they opened fired on the jumpers.

Of course that was when several humvees immediately sped up and began attacking those cars. It was a risky operation as they needed to protect the civilian cars that could be caught in the crossfire but it was the only way they could get all the other cars as well. Whenever the lorry stopped for re-fuelling most of the other cars, about fifteen, would break off and start a patrol of the nearby highways. The remaining five cars would accompany the lorry for protection.

The good thing about the lorry for the jump team was that the trailer was bullet proof. That meant that no one inside the lorry could start firing blindly at the roof.

But bullet proof isn't fire proof. Homura and Clark immediately began cutting into the roof of the trailer whilst Mutsu accompanied Logan to the driver's cab and used his sword to deftly block any bullets headed their way. Logan entered the cab and took out the driver and his partner before slowing the lorry and then driving it off the road and into a nearby field.

Most of the cars that were still mobile, about three, followed.

They quickly found themselves flying into the air due to special land mines thrown by the Sekirei. These mines didn't explode; they emitted an anti-gravity pulse based on the artificial gravity generators used on the Amaterasu. It was also what the Japanese used to punt the White Martian tripods back into space.

It probably doesn't need to be pointed out that this device was a joint collaboration between Harry and Dani.

Nor does it need noting that Dani was in charge of the squad throwing out the landmines.

It definitely doesn't need saying that Dani was standing there cackling away at her genius.

But it should be pointed out that Musubi, on strict instructions from Lorna, pulled out a spray bottle provided by the green haired mutant and sprayed ice-cold water on the nut job.

In Musubi's defence, she was just doing as she was told.

Clark waited for Laura to signal her readiness to breech the lorry with Harry. Clark and Homura would enter through the roof whilst Harry and Laura would slice the loading doors open.

For this operation Laura had the lead.

She began the countdown. "Breech in 3, 2, 1…"

Instead of finding themselves dodging bullets, they only encountered men on their knees with their hands behind their backs.

"We surrender!" Came a Swiss accented voice.

"I've got you covered." Clark assured Homura as he waited for his Sekirei to secure the four men on their knees.

The trailer was of a luxury design that you would find on a custom leer jet. Beige walls, a conference table in the middle with luxury leather seats around it, large television screens on every wall and for some reason… a disco ball hanging from the ceiling.

"I wish to speak with someone from the Swiss embassy." Marcus Becker smirked superiorly.

"There are no Swiss embassies where you're going." Laura smirked back.

"You are required by international law to allow me to contact my countries representative." He scowled.

"That's the thing." Harry said with a grin as he sauntered up to the now zip-tied crooks. "You're on Japanese soil within the borders of America. Extradition becomes a little tricky."

"We are in an American field in Kansas." Becker countered.

"A Japanese _owned_ field. My field actually." Harry continued to grin. "Of course once we are done here I will be selling it back to its previous owner for a healthy sum of one dollar. He didn't trust me at first, but I not only paid him ten million for the field in cash but I also personally escorted him to the bank to deposit the money."

"You can't do this!"

"Can and am doing it."

"Harry, you taught me long ago not to taunt the bad guys." Clark sighed.

"Sure, but that's when they are a danger. If you've got them all trussed up then have at it." Harry shrugged.

"Oh. My. God." Laura said incredulously. "No wonder you managed to get yourself into so much trouble in this universe. You've grown lax!"

Clark quickly stunned the bad guys considering it was safer and that Laura was now discussing classified stuff.

"Xander needs to have serious words with you." She said seriously.

Harry frowned. "You really think I've been… too careless?"

"_You_ were the one who taught the classes on Battlefield Common Sense back home! You hammered it into Loki and our children as they grew up! You of all people should realise by now that even a regular human like Becker here can be a danger to even you."

"She's right." Clark added. "Minaka was just a regular human and he trapped you for nearly a decade. Higa was just a human and he had me fairly restrained without laying a finger on me."

"I- I guess I was just too caught up in having fun." Harry muttered more to himself than anyone else as he slumped into one of the leather chairs at the conference table.

"There is nothing wrong with having fun." Laura consoled him as she slid on his lap. "You seem to have thrown caution to the wind though. Maybe you should head back to my home universe and spend some time with Odin. Talk things out."

Harry sighed unhappily. Being self-aware was something that he had strived for since he was a boy. The ability to step back from his life and point out his own mistakes… and to also own up to them and accept them. He could see Laura and Clark were right; he was becoming reckless. He needed to find out why.

"Alright, we'll clear up here and then I will head back through the door. Clark is more than capable of handling things here."

"He's certainly had experience." Laura smiled in relief.

"I think I will take Diana, Miya and Akitsu with me though. Give them a chance to see where the rest of you came from."

* * *

Lucy Lane had had her mind blown wide open. She had witnessed magic, gods and even Superman and Wonder Woman. And now she was standing in the palace of Themiscyra in front of the Queen of the Amazons. The only people she knew were Lois and Chloe who were standing slightly behind her and the two guards on either side of her.

"Lucy Lane, you are guilty of extortion, blackmail and conspiracy to commit kidnapping." Amara declared. "Your actions could have led to the deaths of countless people… and yet you seem to have no remorse or compassion.

"In contrast to these damning facts, your soul is not completely tainted. Death's Right Hand has determined that there is a chance you can be redeemed. Your punishment is servitude to the Amazon Nation until you have been taught remorse and compassion.

"You will be denied the gifts of magic until you have learnt these lessons and you will serve your time in a linear fashion. You will not be returned to this point in time once you have completed your sentence… _if_ you complete your sentence.

"Lastly, despite whatever attachment you may develop to the Amazon people, you will _never_ be permitted to become an Amazon.

"Do you understand what I have told you?" Amara asked.

"I understand that I am entitled to a lawyer and a trial. I want both." Lucy snarled.

"And what evidence will you provide that will prove your innocence?" Amara asked stonily. "You have been checked for drugs, your computer and accounts have been checked for evidence that you were being coerced, and your soul has been examined.

"Are you willing to testify under the Lasso of Truth? Be warned, the Lasso will compel you to tell the truth."

"I-"

"A quick demonstration, your Majesty?" Chloe offered.

Amara smirked and nodded.

Chloe stepped forward and stood in front of Lucy. "When I ask a question, the person I ask is compelled to speak the truth, just like the Lasso of Truth.

"What type of underwear are you wearing?"

"Pink panties with My Little Pony cartoons." Came the wooden response.

Chloe tried to hold her laughter… but Lois lost it and took Chloe _and_ Amara into fits of laughter with her.

Lucy was horrified and blushing bright red.

"Oh goddess, at least she was wearing some this time." Chloe laughed as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Chloe, I believe you have proved our point." Amara giggled. "Lucy Lane, do you still wish to have that trial? We can do it now and you can have Chloe ask you."

Lucy thought for a moment then nodded. She was fairly pissed. "But you have to question my motives as well."

Amara wanted to roll her eyes. "Very well, Chloe, proceed."

"Lucy Lane, are you guilty of the crimes you were charged with by the Queen of the Amazons?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel any remorse for what you did, or sorry for the people you wronged?"

"No."

"Why did you commit those crimes?"

"Because I believed my father liked my sister better than me and I wanted to get back at them."

"That's it?!" Chloe asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"Was that the answer you thought you were going to give when you asked us to question your motives?"

"Yes."

"Wow." Chloe was stunned by the shallowness of her cousin. She stepped back next to Lois.

"Lucy Lane, your motives are considered ridiculous. Your father taught you right from wrong and your sister has proven that it was not a hard lesson." Amara said sternly. "Your motives are based on greed and jealousy. Instead of complaining to your father or sister you decided to actively hurt other innocent people.

"Your sentence stands. Remove her from my sight so she can begin her sentence."

"You can't do this!" Lucy screeched as she was dragged out of the throne room.

Chloe put an arm around Lois as she could see the screams of her sister were affecting her.

"I had to raise her you know." Lois said quietly. "Did I make the mistake?" She wondered numbly.

"We make our own decisions Lois."

The assembled Amazons and Lois bowed low as Aphrodite appeared before them. Except Amara who she greeted with a kiss.

"Rise." Aphrodite instructed with a kind smile. "Thank you for your respect." She told Lois as she kissed her cheek. "But I am not you goddess, I am your future sister wife. You do not need to bow to me."

"Kyla does though." Lois frowned.

"Only when I am in my role as her goddess. She is considered Clark's first wife, even though they are not legally married."

"Does Tsukiumi know that?" Chloe giggled.

Aphrodite laughed. "_She_ was the one who stated it. Tsukiumi has designated everyone a role. She has given herself the position of Head Wife of the Harem. But she does a good job in looking out for the needs of her sister wives and she has earned our respect."

"Wow… to think… when we first met her she wanted to kill Clark for being a man." Chloe grinned.


	63. Chapter 63

Lucy would spend the next six months alone with the Amazons, not even Chloe would be able to visit her. After six months they would arrange for her to meet with her sister and father just off the coast of the island before continuing her sentence. There were very few males that were permitted on the island of Themiscyra, even Lex was forbidden.

After the initial visit further visits would be scheduled.

There had been a very interesting incident where Clark had received a frantic mental call from Tess whilst he was in Tokyo. He teleported in to find himself in what appeared to be an underground lab.

What was a little disturbing was Tess standing over _two_ Lex Luthors.

"Well neither of them are Harry… and they both come across as Lex." Clark muttered to himself as he picked his way through the unconscious bodies of various scientists. "What happened here?"

"This was supposed to be a simple experiment which Lex agreed had potential and didn't have morally questionable facets." Tess scowled. She was tempted to kick her unconscious brother for this mess…both of them. "They were experimenting with Kryptonite-"

Clark suddenly tensed and began checking the area.

"Relax, I cleaned up as best I could." She assured him. "Anyway, the scientists were trying to determine the properties of Kryptonite and answer a few questions, like: What happens when you subject it to extreme heat.

"You can see this is a well equipped lab with plenty of safety measures.

"Lex wanted to observe this test, but the Kryptonite began to exceed the target temperature even after the lasers were shut off. Eventually the Kryptonite emitted a burst of energy and Lex saved the doctor there," She pointed to one of the scientists, "and took the blast himself.

"Now there are two of them." She sighed.

Kilowog who Clark had called joined them. "Hey little Poozer." He smiled at Tess.

The girls of the Castle considered Kilowog a 'sweetheart'. It didn't help that Kusano had the big alien wrapped around her finger.

"Hey Kilowog, I was just explaining to Clark about the super-heated Kryptonite splitting Lex in two." She indicated her unconscious brother.

"Huh… ain't never seen this before." He focused on his ring. "Nothing in the database about it either."

"Both are Lex… but only one has a soul." Clark said as he crouched down in his suit.

"So we just kill the soulless one?" Tess asked.

"Not until we know more." Clark shook his head. Clark focused and called in help. He was rewarded (or punished) with Xander and Neville.

"Hey! Two Lexes and no waiting! Bet Helen will be thrilled."

Neville just sighed. "I'll be the one to tell Helen what has happened."

"Xander, can you take both of these to the Castle and put them in separate cells?" Clark requested.

"Sure thing." He smiled before touching each of the unconscious bodies and vanishing with them.

"Kilowog, can you put up a warning on super-heating Kryptonite and feel out the Guardians and other Lanterns to see if they know anything about this?"

"Sure thing Kal." The Green Lantern vanished.

"How are we going to clear this mess up?" Tess asked.

"We will need a containment team. We can use Matsu and a few MBI HAZMAT teams to come in and secure this lab. We'll have them pretend to be a LuthorCorp clean up."

"What about the Kryptonite? It turned black."

"We'll ask The Vision to analyse it and see what he can determine." Clark said after a moments thought. "We should probably call in Bruce Banner as well, he's _forgotten_ more about radiation than we can imagine."

"Helen is going to be so pissed." Tess muttered.

* * *

Back at the high school Chloe was in the Torch Office, standing in front of an irate Dawn Stiles being yelled at.

Chloe had been yelled at by the best and Dawn was pathetic… as was her topic of contention.

"Prom Queen is a time honoured tradition! It is the world's way of declaring they have found the most beautiful and popular girl and that they love her!" Dawn was getting red in the face with anger.

Chloe just gave a half shrug. "Yes, but Lana isn't running."

Dawn's right eye began to twitch as she tried to ignore the giggling girls and Ryan who were also present.

"Why are you here yapping away, Dawn?" Chloe sighed. "I just wrote an opinion piece for the paper. This is a school full of teenagers, I doubt anyone is actually going to boycott the vote."

"Because I don't think its fair to use your articles to get yourself nominated!" Dawn screeched as she held up one of the voting forms.

Chloe's eyes widened as she saw her own name down as a nomination for Prom Queen. She spun around to face her friends. "Which one of you chuckleheads did this?" She demanded.

"Don't turn your back on me Sullivan!" Dawn said incensed.

So Chloe spun back round and let her emotions out. "Alright, Stiles. Here's the deal: You're a self-absorbed, narcissistic, idiot – and if you don't know what that means then you will find that 'idiot' really hit the bulls eye. You come in here complaining about my opinion and shouting at me. Not. On. Get out of my office before I report you to the Principal, she doesn't like people like you anymore than I do and if she gets in the right mood she'll give you detention… _on Prom Night_."

Dawn paled. "She wouldn't dare!"

"If she won't, I will."

Dawn spun around to see Danielle Moonstar standing there.

"You really need to check your attitude, Stiles." Dani warned. "How long do you expect to live? Honestly now, I want a real answer. Do you think you will live past high school? College? Or will you make it beyond that?"

Dawn hadn't really thought about that before. "I- What does it matter?" She blustered.

"It matters because people don't get careers based on being a Prom Queen." Dani said calmly. "So your parents might be able to pay for you to waste your time in college, what happens after college? How are you going to get a job? People will listen to your attitude for about ten seconds before sending you away. And even if you _do_ manage to get a job, your attitude will piss off the wrong people and you will be back on the streets.

"So that is where you will spend your post college years, Dawn. On the streets. All your looks and connections won't help you one bit out there."

"I believe Miss Stiles has gotten the point, Miss Moonstar." Emma commented as she walked up. "As has been pointed out to you by Miss Sullivan and Miss Moonstar, your attitude is unacceptable. I suggest you leave now and think about that and one last thing:"

Emma stepped forward into the girl's personal space. "Miss Sullivan is on the fast track to being a top reporter for a major paper like The Daily Planet. People like her can destroy people like you with a words."

Emma stood up straight and stood aside indicating for Dawn to leave.

Dawn straightened her back and made to storm out.

Dani stayed standing where she was, leaning on the doorframe, forcing Dawn to stop and sidle past.

"Inform me if Miss Stiles causes more problems." Emma instructed the students in the office.

"Miss Frost, is there anyway I can get my name _off_ the ballot paper?" Chloe asked desperately.

"Only if you wish to insult the numerous people who wrote you in." Emma smirked.

"Numerous?" Chloe looked worried.

"From my point of view, the identity of the Prom Queen is a foregone conclusion." She laughed as she left the office with Dani.

"Well… shit."

"_Language Miss Sullivan."_

* * *

Clark, Tess, Bruce Banner, Helen and Jean were all standing in front of the two cells in the dungeon that contained the two Lex Luthors.

"The Lex with the soul is the Lex we all know and love; this is only partly true though." Jean explained. "He is lacking a lot of the instincts that will allow him to survive in even the most peaceful of societies.

"The other Lex has all of that but no empathy."

"Do we have a plan?" Clark asked.

"We could try to reverse the process with this new Black Kryptonite." Bruce offered. "We saw the video footage and have some understanding of what happened."

"Any other options in case that doesn't work?" Tess asked.

"We have Harry generate a new body and put the soul in that one." Jean offered. "A lot of what is missing from the souled body is chemical pathways related the fighting instinct, the predator side of us."

"Bruce, can you take Helen and the two Luthors back through the Door and try your method? If that doesn't work then call on Harry." Clark asked.

"Of course. We can leave straight away."

Helen, Tess and the two Luthors were stuck in the other universe for a while as neither Bruce nor The Vision would start an operation without further tests. They also used the experience to try and get Harry back into using his more analytical mind.

Harry was never going to be the model of restraint that Scott or Emma were but he had definitely become more reckless over the years since he first arrived at the X-Mansion.

* * *

In a show of solidarity all of the girls were going to the Prom stag. Even Ryan and Chiho were going separately. Chloe hadn't even bothered looking for a date as she planned to go stag. Kyla managed to convince Lana to go even though she was planning on skipping it as Jason couldn't be her date.

Kyla had roped Lois into accompanying them… a fairly hard task especially as she would be gate crashing

But Ryan had stepped up and said he would take her as his 'official' date, which made Chiho very proud.

The Sekirei would also be in attendance as chaperones. The task of choosing dresses for the fairly busty and beautiful ladies was left to Martha and Cassandra who were fairly more reserved than the rest of the women in the castle.

The news came the next day that Dawn Stiles had been in a car crash and was now in a coma at the Smallville Medical Centre. None of the doctors could figure it out, even with magic so Neville had called in the next best thing to Harry: Clark.

"She's not actually in there." Clark frowned as his head hovered over the comatose girl. "Her soul is elsewhere, not passed over as I can't call her."

"Well that would make her a ghost." Neville mused. "This town is now saturated with magic so ghosts will be visible to magicals."

"We couldn't see Gabe when he was… a ghost." Clark pointed out.

"There wasn't enough magic covering the town. There were around twenty to thirty magic users. Now every house has wards and the streets have been charmed for safety and cleanliness. With all the magic she can speak and we will hear her." Neville explained.

"Doctor Scanlan- oh good evening Doctors." The nurse amended as she entered. "We have a call from the Sheriff. Miss Stiles' soul appears to be visible and attempting to possess people."

"Has she succeeded?" Neville asked with astonishment.

"I think so. It is hard to tell." The nurse shrugged.

"Doctor, you might want to come with us so you can see what happens first hand." Clark advised Yaeger Scanlan.

* * *

"Dawn Janine Stiles! What do you think you are playing at?"

Dawn might now be dead… but she still responded to the stern voice of her mother just as any child would.

"I was just trying to get one of them to take me to the Prom." She said as she shuffled her ectoplasmic feet.

For whatever reason, the extra magic that saturated the area and made ghosts visible also allowed them to create their own clothes. It was probably the reason that Harry always had clothes and was definitely something Clark planned on trying to duplicate next time he died.

Clark paused mid-step as he realised how casually he now thought about dying… over and over again.

Mrs Stiles was unaware of this as she continued to approach Dawn as she berated her daughter. The three young high school freshmen girls who had decided to skip the dance were cautiously edging away.

"Girls, over here." Clark called out to them.

They quickly approached Clark, Neville and Doctor Scanlan.

"Was she able to actually possess you?" Clark asked. Clark had some experience with ghosts in Harry's home universe, he knew what they looked like and what they could do… possession was not part of their bailiwick.

"She tried, but our occlumency shields where able to push her out." The tallest girl named Marcia answered.

Knowledge of occlumency at a basic level was part of the magical knowledge that came with the Oath of Civilisation. It was nowhere near as advanced as what the Amazons learnt, just enough to prevent mild possession or intrusion.

"That is not typical for a ghost." Neville frowned.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Doctor Scanlan asked the girls.

"No sir, but we really didn't like it." Marcia admitted.

"I know how you feel. Being controlled by someone is really not fun." Clark agreed as Scanlan pulled out his phone.

"Someone was able to control you?!" Jennifer, the youngest and shortest of the trio asked in horror.

"It was just Harry, he would train me by putting me under his control and I would have to break out of it. Very dangerous if you don't have the right people doing it." He warned.

"Why don't you girls head over to the Sheriff and give her a statement." Neville suggested.

"Kryptonite." Scanlan scowled as he hung up his phone. "We didn't consider it because it seemed like a straight forward accident, but I just asked the nurse to run a check and Dawn's body is contaminated. I've instructed the transplant team to begin building a new body for her. Can you put her back?" He asked Clark.

"I hope so. If I can't she can just wait like this until Harry comes back." Clark smirked. "It seems like a suitable punishment."

* * *

The transplant team consisted of a bunch of doctors in North Korea who were trained to efficiently create new organs from willing donors that were then shipped to hospitals in Japan. From there, excess organs were offered to other hospitals around the world. Confidentiality was key in transplants and that was what allowed Harry to arrange for the organ donor shortage to drop significantly.

Creating a new body from an old was a similar process, they would take a piece of the original and build the body from that. It was far different from Harry who could view the actual DNA of the body and then replicate it from nothing. The Cuckoos still hadn't filled all the empty space in Harry's head from his time alone before he joined the X-Men. Every time he met someone new he would memorise their DNA. He had whole galaxies of people stored in his head.

Clark's evening was spent sitting in a hospital room with Dawn and her parents whilst they spent the time waiting for her new body berating the girl for reckless driving _and_ trying to possess the girls.

The Sheriff had charged her with assault and used the powers given to her by the town to assign her community service. They couldn't exactly take it to the county courts as magic was involved and Harry and Clark had convinced the town to give the Sheriff minor sentencing powers for these types of crimes.

Anything bigger was sent to Harry or in his absence, Neville.

* * *

The Prom was a big success.

Chloe was mortified that she actually won. She got up on the stage and accepted the crown graciously and decided to say a few simple words about how she thanked them for the show of support.

By the end of the night her feet were sore and she regretted going stag as she had to dance with nearly every male student.

The weekend was abuzz with talk of the Prom, being a small town there wasn't really much to discuss. Dawn Stiles was handed over to Scott Summers and assigned to work as a waitress for the Talon. They hoped that she would learn some people skills and humility there.

Lana took the opportunity to take some time off and spend it with her family and Jason. This was more to prevent her having to deal with Dawn in a supervisory role, Dawn considered her a rival as Lana was also nominated for Prom Queen as a write in.

She actually came in third after Uzume.

The Cuckoos came in joint fourth.

On the Sunday Clark was enjoying a nice coffee with Kyla, Lana and Chloe at the Talon.

"How's your neck, Chlo?" Clark asked with a smirk. "Recovered from the weight of the crown?"

"Mine was just a symbol Clark." Chloe sniffed superiorly. "The way Harry and the others tell it, you will actually have to hold the real crown day. Control of the world and possibly the galaxy."

"Chloe, you are a Phoenix, you are immortal." Clark said seriously. "In fact all three of you are now truly immortal thanks to Chloe. There is a fairly strong chance that all of you might hold the reigns of leadership at some point."

"But not for a long, long, long, long, loooong time." Kyla said with a shudder.

"I'm curious Clark, why don't you act any older? You're over one hundred now, so why haven't you matured?" Lana asked.

Clark just shrugged. "I spent most of that time with Harry. When I wasn't with Harry I was doing what I've been doing since I was… what? Fifteen? Nev' says I haven't had the right experiences yet. I haven't had the personal challenges."

"You've been dosed with Red Kryptonite, The Scarecrow's Fear Toxin, you've died several times, you faced the worst humanity has to offer and stopped an invasion… plus you had to deal with Jor-El." Chloe listed with a raised eyebrow. "What the hell is left?"

Clark just grinned. "Lois Lane?"

"I am so telling her you said that." Kyla laughed.

"Where is Lois?" Lana asked.

"Lois is still at MU trying not to get kicked out after another stunt… this time it was actually Kazehana's fault." Kyla sighed.

"Kazehana?"

"She decided to serve as Lois' protection detail." Kyla explained. "She is listed as a student and attends the same classes as Lois and sleeps in the same apartment."

"Wow… that's pretty generous, considering that it's nearly impossible to pry a Sekirei off their Ashikabi." Chloe remarked.

"Yeah, but we're all proud of her and Tsukiumi is setting up a rota to take some of the pressure off of her." Clark nodded.

"Ok, but how did Kazehana get Lois in trouble?"

"Some paparazzi discovered that Lois was connected to a highly ranked general. They tracked her down and Kazehana… it was first thing in the morning and very tired, they weren't dressed and Sekirei have little in the way of modesty so Kazehana didn't think twice about opening the door.

"The bastard got a shot of Kazehana in just her panties, Lois was in a bra and panties but the flash of the camera caught Kazehana off guard and he got away."

"I don't remember seeing those pictures in the news?" Lana frowned.

"No, he tried to use them as blackmail on Lois to get information on her father. She refused and the photographer sent copies to the head of the university. They then got leaked.

"We managed to track down the copies and Laura and Brunhilde put out a virus seek out and destroy them but the various anti-lesbian and pro-lesbian groups got a hold of them."

"Why would they care?" Chloe asked.

"Because the pro-lesbian groups at first praised her whilst the anti-lesbian groups condemned her. But Lois made a statement along the lines of-"

"'There ain't no way I am gay. I like my sausage.'" Kyla said gruffly with a laugh.

Clark rubbed his temple in frustration. "Yeah, pretty much that. Of course then the groups switched up support and condemnation… so Lois can't win."

"How is that her fault? Why would they boot her for that?" Lana asked.

"Because they say she and her roommate where reckless when they opened the door in a state of undress." Clark explained.

"Lois is thinking of quitting altogether. She knows we will support her financially until she finds her niche in life." Kyla added. "For now, Loki is on a rampage with Amara and suing MU for every penny they have."

"What about the photographer?" Chloe scowled.

"Xander took care of that." Clark assured them. "Scott made a comment about finally understanding where Harry gets his perverse sense of humour from when handing out punishment."

Kyla just shuddered.

"What the hell?! We've been robbed! I am so not taking the blame for this!"

They all turned to see Dawn standing angrily at the till.

"Kyla, you deal with Dawn. Lana, check the tapes and get Scott. Chloe, someone just ran out the back and you're with me." Clark instructed as he grabbed Chloe and they vanished.

"Why do I have to deal with Stiles?" Kyla grumbled.

"_Because you're the only one of us she isn't pissed with."_ Came Chloe's mental smirk as they opened a standard magical connection. It was SOP for missions. Better than radio.

* * *

Clark and Chloe made it outside to find a boy about their age jumping into a car.

"_Chloe, stay invisible and ask him if he stole the money."_ Clark instructed.

Chloe was fairly impressed with that suggestion. If he was innocent they could leave him be and he would probably dismiss the event.

"Did you steal the money from the Talon?"

"Yes."

Her disembodied voice combined with his own involuntary response startled the boy who accidentally hit the accelerator sending the car crashing into Clark.

Clark just sighed as he sent a stunner at the driver through the now busted windshield whilst the car was wrapped around him. He dropped the invisibility charms on himself and Chloe.

"It was a fairly good idea." Chloe shrugged.

"I'm guessing these are the life challenges Nev' was talking about." Clark grumbled as he began tearing the car off of himself.

* * *

That evening Superman was called to the White House which was besieged by protestors demanding that the international interim government leave the country and hand over control to Americans. The vote for the new government wasn't for another five months.

It was a well-organised group, they had a stage, speakers, microphones and even large television displays. There were nearly a million Americans assembled all with placards and chants about foreigners and America being for Americans.

The problem was that they were becoming unruly and the police were struggling.

Superman decided to make an entrance. He landed on the stage next to the leader of the protestors, a man named Alex Evell.

Evell was well known businessman with suspected criminal ties. He had tried to buy The Daily Planet but when Pauline Khan had refused he had tried to attack the trucks delivering the paper.

This had increased sales of The Planet.

He was also one of many individuals banned from running for government due to his views on America and the actions he believed they should take against Japan for their occupation.

"Mr. Evell." Superman said evenly.

"Well if it isn't the mighty Superman." Evell sneered. "Are you going to try and shut us down? There are a million of us here and millions more around the country that agree with us. Can you really stop us all?"

Superman looked at him thoughtfully. "Millions you say?"

"Possibly hundreds of millions." Evell smirked. "Each and everyone of them want you and those Slant-Eyes out of our country."

"Slant-Eyes?" Superman repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Are you aware that America makes up just four and a half percent of the world's population?" He asked. "China alone makes up about twenty percent. You just insulted over one fifth of the world with just two words."

"Like I give a damn. They should stick to their own over populated countries." Evell snarled.

"Well… that's the problem." Superman said reasonably. "They were quite happy where they were. But then the American Government decided to plunge the _entire_ planet into a war with an advanced alien species.

"And it was the rest of the world that had to defend the planet whilst America was steamrolled over.

"As a result, the rest of the world doesn't think America is ready to govern itself as an equal amongst its peers."

"That's not for you to decide. We are Americans! This is our land, we have a right to do as we see fit." Evell argued.

"Its your right so long as you don't endanger others. If you keep insulting people and threatening them then no one is going to see you as somebody who can look after a country."

"You're the worst one of all!" Evell got up in Superman's face. "You aren't even from this planet! You aren't even human. Get the hell off our planet and leave us alone! And tell your Green Light Bulb friends the same."

"Your planet?" Superman mused. "I want you all to think about this very carefully." Superman said as he snatched the microphone from Evell. "The planet Earth is situated in the solar system, the solar system is located in the Galaxy known as the Milk Way.

"There are over four hundred _billion_ stars in this galaxy alone and quite a few are inhabited by beings more advanced and intelligent than humans.

"What exactly are you going to do when they decide that they don't want _you_ in _their_ galaxy?" Superman challenged the crowd. "They could wipe you out without even entering the solar system, _you_ can't even get off the planet, so why don't you think about how bad it would be if those aliens heard about your attitude. Then remember that the… '_Slant-Eyes'_… out number you pretty badly."

Superman turned and glared at Evell before looking back at the crowd. "This is an illegal gathering. You have twenty-four hours to disperse before the police take action. You have the right to assemble, but not the right to incite hatred and violence.

"Consider this your warning."

Superman crushed the microphone in his hand before calling down a bolt of lightning that made him vanish and burnt a nice big hole in the stage.

* * *

Superman arrived back at the castle in a flash… literally… he used lightning after all.

He immediately began issuing orders to the residents as they approached him.

"Dani, get Batman here. Kyla, fetch The Flash and Hawkgirl. Brunhilde, please contact Hal and Sinestro. Loki, can you go and ask Diana to join us for a day or so. Amara, please request the Prime Minister of Japan and J'onn's presence."

He didn't have to wait long before everyone including Diana and the Prime Minister were present and everyone was seated around the table in the Great Hall.

"Thank you all for coming." Superman began. "You may or may not have heard me speaking to the crowd of protestors gathered outside the White House a few minutes ago. I have issued a warning and given them twenty-four hours to disperse."

"Those are the laws currently being enforced by the Interim Government." The Prime Minister agreed. "I was watching your encounter and you handled it very well. Much better than your last visit to the White House." He said slightly teasing which made the Man of Steel blush.

"Yes… but the reason I have asked you here is that I expect there to be trouble sometime in the next twenty-four hours as the protestors prepare to defy the civil order. I would like us to have a plan in place to make full use of all our abilities and to prevent violence where possible and show the world just how effective we can be at enforcing the law without exceeding it."

"You have some ideas already though." Batman mused.

"Just some basics along the lines of the Lanterns using their rings to shield the officers and container all the protestors. I could easily slip in and out of the crowd and remove weapons and troublemakers."

"If we are to be above reproach in terms of the law then I recommend setting up a fully comprehensive surveillance system on the crowd to catch them on tape." Brunhilde offered. "A team of technicians manning them could easily report what they see making it easier for you to move in and apprehend what you might miss."

"I can assist in removing weapons and troublemakers." Hawkgirl added.

"When Supes says 'remove', he means non-lethally." The Flash said with a slight wince.

"I _know_ what he meant." She growled.

"I know, but after that one-"

"That was an accident and even you agreed." She said warningly.

"Barry, you're arguing with a woman." Hal said quickly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kyla demanded.

"It means that he should already know he's not going to win and that he should quit whilst he is ahead." Emma smirked.

Kyla just smiled smugly as The Flash zipped his lips.

"Are we avoiding magic?" Chloe asked.

"Yes, we will also be using standard identity concealment." Superman nodded. "If necessary we will use the full compliment of Amazons trained for Man's World along with the appropriate Sekirei."

"I recommend you avoid using vehicles such as APC's with water canons." The Prime Minister warned. "It will send the wrong message, one of occupation and that is what the people are protesting."

"Don't use local police." Lex said quickly. "We brought Captain Sawyer into the loop as you know and she has been giving us information that leads us to believe that some of the more patriotic members are behind the uprising."

"Couldn't these morons have waited for five more months?" Dani groaned. "They would have an American voted government in place and the interim government would be back home!"

"Dani, first, they wouldn't be in place until January." Amara corrected. "Second, they would just claim that the voted government is a pawn of the Alliance."

"Queen Amara is quite correct." The Prime Minister nodded. "But there is little we can do about it other than to make the process as transparent as possible."

"If some of the police are involved… isn't there a chance guns will be present in the crowd?" Lana asked.

"It's worse than that." Lorna sighed. "As soon as this guy, Alex Evell, popped up, Chloe and I researched him. He has suspected criminal ties. We could see gang level weapons. All the way up to rocket launchers."

"Yikes! I had to deal with a few of those back when the White Martians landed." The Flash grimaced. "They are easy to catch up to but not easy to hold."

"Why not just knock them away like I do?" Hawkgirl asked.

"The ones you knocked away _were_ the ones I had to catch." He said dryly causing Kyla and Dani to smother their giggles.

"You humans are such fragile creatures." She sighed.

"Hey! I don't see any of your people running faster than light." The Flash said defensively.

"Getting back on topic before Bats bursts a blood vessel," Hal said quickly. "Sinestro and I can easily handle the crowd, but it might be safer to include Kilowog and our latest recruit as well."

"New recruit? A new Lantern?" Laura asked.

"Yes, another human." Sinestro offered in a relaxed manner. "He is much more… structured than Hal." He said with a glib look at his partner.

"Man has a stick so far up his-"

"Ahem!" Hal looked over to see Xander, Logan and Neville all shaking their heads and indicating the empty chair where Miya usually sat next to Xander.

"But she's not even here!"

"Hey man, if you want to chance it, fine by me." Xander scoffed.

"Hal, I got attacked by a seer for something I hadn't even done… wasn't planning on doing and only actually did _because_ she attacked me and Harry made us." The Flash grumbled.

"_You may want to turn on the news. There is an interesting interview occurring."_ The telepathic voice of the Cuckoos came as they maintained watch in Cerebro.

Laura quickly pulled up the screens and they saw an older man in his fifties with jet-black hair and white sideburns. He had a long thin face and was wearing a suit and tie. The news channel had him named as Jonathan Horne. He was seated at a news desk talking to an anchorman.

"_- America is for Americans is ridiculous."_ The man declared. _"We are the land of immigrants. Without immigrants there would never have been an America. Everyone from the British to the Spanish contributed to this country and we should remember that we did so at the expense of the true natives of the land. _

"_The previous government royally screwed the pooch when they unilaterally declared war on Mars. The American people suffered as a result. The Alliance has not encroached on any of our freedoms. They respect the laws and ideals that this country was built on. All they have done is cut out the cancer that was killing us and are holding us up until we can stand on our own two feet._

"_If you want proof of the good they have done for us then simply look at the videos of the Martian Invasion and the damage they caused to our cities. Then go and take a look at those cities and see how much has been fixed… with money provided by the Alliance."_

"_It sounds like you are advocating the Alliance staying in control of our country." The interviewer offered neutrally._

"_Absolutely not." Horne said firmly. "America is built on independence. We crave it. More importantly, as much as we currently need help to get back on our feet, we are not ready to be part of such a… close knit family as the Alliance appears to be._

"_No, what I am advocating is that we appreciate what the Alliance has done for us. Saving our cities, civilians and even our military from complete destruction from an alien force that our previous government recklessly attacked._

"_I am advocating that we remember what it was like to have strong ties with allies like Britain during the Second World War. _

"_We are one country on a planet filled with diversity. More importantly we are one of the youngest countries at around two hundred and fifty years old."_

"_But the Alliance seems to have a distinct grudge against America. They denied us the opportunity to be a part of first contact with the Martians." The newsman countered._

"_With good reason!" Horne said passionately. "Not only did we try to shoot down their unarmed, fully registered and licensed space craft, the Amaterasu, but when the Alliance tried to bring us word of life on Mars and the opportunity to be a part of first contact, we acted like belligerent bullies._

"_Is that really the kind of people we want to show as the face of humanity?"_

"_Some might argue that a show of force when dealing with new life forms will prevent them from trying to attack us."_

"_If by a show of force you mean having weapons and not using them, then yes. I agree that it is smart to be armed when you head into the wilderness in case you encounter predators._

"_But what the previous government did was not a 'show of force'. It was an out right attempt at genocide. If the White Martians hadn't been impervious to our weapons then America would have been guilty of wiping out an entire species._

"_How would that look to the Lantern Corp? Or even the rest of the planet?"_

"_What gives the Green Lantern Corp the right to dictate how we live our lives?" The anchorman asked curiously._

"_First of all, they are not dictating how we live our lives. They are merely ensuring that we are not a threat to the rest of the world. Just like our police officers and soldiers._

"_Second of all, they do so with the same authority that the our governments control our lives and economy. They see a problem, they realise they can provide a solution and then they step in and make it happen._

"_They are nothing like dictators who see power and try to horde it for themselves."_

"_Jonathan Horne, that's all we have time for tonight. Thank you for speaking with us and we wish you all the best on your election campaign."_

The screen went blank as Laura cut the feed.

"Just how honest is he?" Superman asked.

"Yeah, he talks a good talk, but what about his actions? Does he have any skeletons or criminal gangs in his closet?" The Flash asked.

"Jonathan Horne is a decent man. Former Army Captain. He has never run for office of any sort before this." Batman reported. "No known or suspected criminal ties."

"He has been fully investigated by the Alliance Interim Government as well." The Prime Minister added.

"Just a courtesy heads up, but Bruce Wayne intends to support a different candidate: Martin Suarez."

"Really? I would have thought you would have stayed well away from politics and anything that could compromise your identity." Hal commented.

"My identity is protected by magic." Batman said dismissively. "The real reason is that I have heard rumours of an assassination attempt on the man. He is decent enough and isn't pushing for anything we oppose."

"Understood." Superman nodded. "Cerebro will be manned at all times by a telepath for the next few days. There is always a chance that protests in one country will spark something in other countries."

Sensing the meeting coming to a natural conclusion, Kyla spoke up. "We should end here. Lana has a hot date with her boyfriend." She smirked.

"Shut up! You just want to steal some time with your boyfriend before he heads back to Tokyo." Lana blushed.

"Absolutely! I intend to spend most of my summer in Tokyo with Clark and the girls. Aphrodite said she might join us."

"Could we please not discuss this at an official meeting?" Superman pleaded as he tried not to blush. The Prime Minister of Japan was right there!

"Don't stop on our account." The Flash grinned as he conjured some popcorn.

* * *

Superman had decided to be a little bit sneaky about the protestors. He had started by creating a thunderstorm just off the eastern coast. He then used all of his powers to push the storm over the city.

The rain pounded the protestors all through the night and he only allowed it to dissipate as the sun rose.

More than half the protestors had left by this point and the police force had set up cordons around the White House to prevent them coming back. Security was on high alert.

The crowd got more and more restless as the day wore on and they all waited for the allotted twenty-four hours to pass and then they would have truly made their point. None of them were really sure what the point was.

Four hours before the deadline, the local Police Captain announced to the crowd that anyone still present after the deadline would be arrested and charged.

That managed to clear out a third of the remaining protestors. In total there were around one hundred and sixty thousand protestors left.

Five minutes before the deadline passed the four Green Lanterns appeared in the air and moved into position at the edges of the crowd.

When the moment came, they instantly erected a barrier around the crowd separating them from the rest of the world.

The guns of the protestors immediately came out and they started firing at the Lanterns. Superman was there catching the bullets before swooping down and plucking out the gunmen and women. Hawkgirl also moved in.

By the time they had caught all of the weapon holders the police had set up processing stations around the barrier. The Lanterns then used their rings to isolate individuals and push them out of the barrier and into the waiting arms of the police.

It was a going to be a long day but officers from around the country had been flown in to help, the Cuckoos had vetted each one. Other Lanterns were scheduled to relieve the current four when they started to tire.

* * *

"Within six months, Washington D.C. may just be the cleanest city in the country… possibly the world." Loki sighed contentedly as she sat down at the conference table with the others.

"Over one hundred thousand of the protestors caught by the Green Lantern's barrier pleaded guilty for a lesser sentence of six months." Amara explained. "The rest have been charged and will be tried, that doesn't include the one hundred and twenty eight caught with guns and the additional fifty six who fired them at someone."

"What sort of sentences are they looking at?" Chloe asked.

"It depends on how hard they fight the charges. At worst they will receive five years community service. At a minimum, a years."

"No jail time?" Kyla asked.

"We learnt a long time ago that putting people in jail solves nothing." Phoebe answered.

"Unless they are violent offenders we give them prolonged periods of community service that eats into their free time." Mindee explained.

"And as a result they end up feeling like they are in prison anyway and we get to save money on jails and public services." Celeste grinned.

"What about second chances?" The newest Green Lantern, John Stewart asked. "Don't some people deserve a chance to redeem themselves?"

"Sure, but they would have to pass Harry's approval first… or now it would be Harry or Clark's." Dani answered. "They can tell if a soul is evil and if they are worth the time."

"We have several people in the dungeons that are nearly ready to be released." Jean added.

"Dungeon?!" John exclaimed. "You keep people captive in a dungeon?"

"Well we can't just hand them over to the authorities." Dani scoffed. "They'd kill everyone in sight and escape within about ten minutes."

"What about due process? What about their rights?" John demanded.

"They have been judged and sentenced based on the laws of America by people who can actually hold them." Scott said firmly. "If we handed them over to the local authorities then we would be guilty of recklessly endangering innocent people and every crime they committed would be on our heads."

"It's why Superman wanted the President to take personal responsibility for the Joker. He didn't want the blood of Joker's victims on his hands." Hal explained.

"Whatever happened to the Joker?" Kyla asked curiously.

There was a brief exchange of uncomfortable looks between the older castle residents and the other heroes.

"Harry took a more… permanent course of action with the Joker." Scott answered carefully. "He didn't kill the body, but he destroyed the soul and wiped his memory. The Joker is now a vegetable being kept alive on life support."

"Let's be clear about this." Neville interjected quickly before John could say anything. "If Harry hadn't done something then the gods would have. The Joker committed a direct attack on Death."

"I don't care who you are. You do not go around flouting the laws of the country you are a guest in. Diplomatic immunity be damned." John scowled.

"Then remember this Mr. Stewart." The Japanese Prime Minister said warningly. "Harry Potter may operate within the borders of the United States of America, but America operates within the borders of the Earth, the solar system and the Milky Way. To say nothing of this mortal realm.

"Superman said as much yesterday when he addressed the protestors.

"You yourself are held to a higher standard as an officer of intergalactic law enforcement."

"He is right John Stewart." Sinestro agreed. "You should envision yourself being called to a planet where they have their own rules. Maybe slavery is legal there. Could you imagine yourself abiding by their rules in stead of galactic code?"

Sinestro had no idea of the fairly sore point he had touched on for the African-American man. He had put in John's mind a conflict he could relate to and as a result, set the man on the path for coming one of the best the Corp had to offer.


	64. Chapter 64

With the most recent crisis averted they were able to talk to the Sheriff about their latest criminal, the Talon thief.

Kevin Grady was judged to be a regular person with no desire to hurt others he just wanted to live and stole to survive.

Unfortunately he pissed off the Sheriff and her deputies as he kept wiping their memories of him.

He would use their lapse of memory to try and bluff his way out of the cell, but the Sheriff was slightly more savvy than that and decided he had to be in there for a reason and that she would wait until one of the castle residents could help her.

It took a lot of alcohol bought by Loki and Dani to calm the Sheriff down. Eventually she agreed to release Kevin into their custody where he was stripped of his powers and any memories of having them. When Jean performed a scan on Kevin to determine how he acquired his powers, a new plan was put in motion to destroy Summerholt.

It seemed that they were illegally using Kryptonite in experiments and Kevin was one of their subjects. His father had taken him there as he claimed Kevin had trouble coping with accidentally killing his brother. Jean discovered the father was trying to get Kevin to take the blame. Kevin's ability was removed, the real memories restored and his father marched into the police station and confessed his crime.

The plan to destroy Summerholt involved Lex acting up his sleazy side and buying his way in before shutting it down.

Unfortunately the man who owned the Summerholt Institute, Dr. Lawrence Garner, was too stubborn and smart for that.

He was also an evil bastard that had caused problems for Harry, Clark _and_ Ryan before… so they sent in the Cuckoos to give him a mental nudge. And make him need to spend his time working as a kindergarten teacher.

The Cuckoos could be as bad as Harry when it came to punishment.

* * *

It was Sheriff Adams that brought the latest crisis to them one evening along with Dr. Scanlan. They teleported straight to the medical wing of the castle where both of them had been keyed into the wards for emergencies.

Cradled in the Sheriff's arms was a tiny baby boy.

"Neville, thank goodness." Scanlan breathed in relief. "Sheriff Adams found this poor child in a crater in a field all alone. He registers as human but has a severe case of Kryptonite poisoning." He explained quickly as Neville took the child from Adams.

Neville ran a few scans of his own before he was joined by Jean teleporting in at his mental request.

"It's not actually a case of poisoning, Yaeger." Neville corrected. "He is a second generation meta-human."

"What does that mean, Doc?" Adams asked worriedly.

"Both his parents might have been infected and he has inherited it." Jean answered as she pulled over the machine built by Bruce Banner.

"Let's get a move on Jean." Jean jumped as Harry suddenly appeared next to.

"A little warning please?" She scowled at him. "And it's good to have you back." She added with a smile.

"We can catch up later. That little tyke is building up a lot of energy and we need to stop it before it does something destructive." Harry said seriously.

"Destructive?" Neville asked as he began removing the blankets and clothes the baby was wearing.

"There is enough energy in him to knock us all back and I do _not_ want to find out what it will do to him." Harry elaborated as he stepped back and allowed Jean to setup the device.

Harry moved to stand with the Sheriff and Yaeger Scanlan.

"So, Nancy, you going to step up for the little guy?" Harry asked with a small smile, his eyes never leaving the baby.

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting, Doc?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You could use someone in your life. You're always welcome around here and we consider you a friend-"

"And that's the only reason I ain't decked ya." She muttered.

"-but the little guy needs someone. Sure, he could go to an orphanage to be adopted, but really he needs someone who can answer the hard questions when he gets older."

"That's what fathers are for and I don't happen to have one of those on hand for child." She retorted sarcastically.

"I was referring to questions like 'what happened to my birth parents?'" Harry explained.

"Kids need a mother and a father. That's what this kid deserves." Nancy said firmly.

"I had neither from the age of one to eleven." Harry said as he turned to face her. "I was placed with people who abused me and it wasn't until I went to school that Xander found and rescued me.

"That boy deserves to be loved, cherished and cared for. I think you have been storing a lot of what that little one needs and it's about time you shared it."

Jean began shutting the machine down having finished purging the Kryptonite energy from the baby's body. Neville started conjuring clothing for child and dressing him.

The Sheriff looked conflicted. "It don't matter what I want. Just like it won't matter what he wants. The courts and social services will have to make their decision."

"Let's see, four doctors, two lawyers and a whole town full of people grateful for all your work… I really can't see us having trouble getting you custody." Harry scoffed.

"I hate to add to Nancy's side of the argument (as I agree she would be a wonderful mother), but shouldn't we find the boys birth parents first?" Yaeger asked.

"I already know who the parents are. They were students at Smallville High and I can see their DNA in our little boy there. Laura and Lorna are already en route to talk to Tanner Sutherland. The boys mother, Karen Gallagher is unfortunately dead." Harry said sadly as the soul of the girl in question appeared before them accompanied by Luna Lovegood.

"Come along Sheriff, the three of us need to have a talk." Luna instructed firmly.

"Hey Luna." Neville smiled as he mimicked planting a kiss on Luna's incorporeal cheek. Only Harry and Clark could actually touch the souls.

"Hello Neville." She smiled sweetly before her expression became stern. "Now give the boy to the Sheriff and go gossip with our brother and the Doctor."

"We're men Luna." Neville scowled as he dutifully handed over the baby boy to a protesting Sheriff who was promptly ignored. "We don't 'gossip'."

"Of course… how silly of me." She said in an airheaded manner. "Why don't you go and discuss the goings on of the townsfolk over there."

Neville sighed in defeat before he headed over to Yaeger Scanlan and a smirking Harry Potter. "Stuff it Harry." Neville snapped.

"Doctors, if you don't need me I still have a shift to complete at the hospital." Scanlan reminded them.

"We can handle this Yaeger." Neville nodded.

Soon it was just Harry and Neville standing there watching the three women of varying ages and mortality cooing over the baby.

"So… how was your vacation?" Neville asked casually, still watching the women.

"Fun. Odin arranged for me to go through a series of war games." Harry said seriously. "I don't know why I became so reckless."

"That's easy." Neville said with a dismissive wave. "It's because of Clark. You've reached the point in your life where you will not only never be alone again, but you have found someone who has the potential to be your equal."

"That's not true." Harry frowned. "Clark will never be able to match my power or author-"

"No, no." Neville shook his head. "Not in those exact terms… but _you_ see him as an equal. Its obvious from the way you give him more authority in your name.

"I'm not saying you are wrong to do so, far from it. But it let you relax. You were no longer alone in your role as the gateway between this realm and the next."

Harry just shrugged. "Must be a subconscious thing. I'll just take your word for it."

"Boys, everything has been sorted and agreed." Luna said as she walked up on her own as Karen said goodbye to her little boy. "Nancy has agreed to take care of Evan David Adams. Make sure there are no legal issues." She wagged a finger at them.

"Yes Luna." They both chorused obediently.

"Come along Karen, we've been here too long." Luna said firmly as she grabbed the girl's arm and gave a nod to Harry.

The pair slowly faded away.

"Evan David?" Neville asked.

"We found him in Evan's field." She explained. "David is the name of Karen's father. This way the little guy will always know where he came from." She said with a sad smile as she brushed his cheek.

"You can stay here tonight if you like, Nancy." Neville offered. "We've all got thousands of years experience raising babies if you need the help."

Nancy smiled appreciatively. "I'm grateful, I really am, but I'll be fine. I did raise my little sister by my lonesome- oh lordy!" She exclaimed suddenly. "How am I gonna explain my having a baby all of a sudden to my sister?"

"Cover the basics and if you think she is trustworthy then bring her here and tell her the truth about everything." Harry shrugged.

"Right, of course." She began to relax. "Charms and protections on the secrets." She adjusted her hold on little Evan. "If you will excuse me, gentlemen, I need to go see a farmer and his wife about being god parents for my… son." She finished proudly.

"What? Are we not good enough to be his god fathers?" Neville asked as put on an expression of hurt.

Nancy just scowled at them. "You two and your father will be a bad enough influence on my son as his honorary uncles… and there is no way I am giving Mr. Goofy-Pants over there any legal influence." She cocked her head Harry.

She spun on her heel and walked off. She had to show her new son off before she went to the Kents.

"Should I be insulted?" Harry asked Neville.

"I believe she was going for insulting." Neville nodded thoughtfully.

"Then I am insulted." Harry said calmly.

"I'll be sure to congratulate the Sheriff on her success."

* * *

Graduation day was just hours away. Around thirty-six according to the very nervous Chiho who had a countdown on her phone. It didn't help that Uzume was very excited and she had a tendency to drag Musubi and Kusano into her excitement.

Chiho had taken to hanging around with Lana and Chloe who were much more relaxed.

Unless Kyla was there in which case she fled to MBI and hid in Clark's office. Several times over the past week Clark had returned to his office to see a nervous Chiho either re-reading her college brochures or wiped out on his couch.

Yume had taken responsibility for the young girl and ensured she had whatever she needed. Occasionally she would take Chiho back to Izumo Inn which now served as a boarding home for Sekirei and Ashikabi between homes and jobs or who were too young to be out on their own. Yume would encourage Chiho to help her with benign and tedious jobs to try and keep her mind off her worries.

Chiho's mood had changed greatly when the school year books came out. She saw a picture of herself with Ryan with the caption: 'Most likely to marry their high school sweetheart.'

Kyla and Chloe had been a bit worried that this would scare the boy off, but he had this dopey grin on his face and whenever Chiho entered a room his eyes were fixated on her.

There were often smirks and smiles at the young couple as they walked through the halls of the school, completely absorbed in each other.

Nobody dared tried to hassle them. No one was going to pick on a girl under the protection of the Talon Crew and nobody was going to piss off Ryan's older brother: The Head of MBI.

At lunchtime the so-called Talon Crew began to panic as they couldn't find Ryan or Chiho. Even the Cuckoos couldn't reach them.

Chloe and Lana headed to Emma whilst Kyla teleported straight to the Sheriff.

She was surprised to find herself standing with the Sheriff, Evan, Jonathan and Martha in front of a crater in a field.

"Kyla? Are you cutting class?" Jonathan asked sternly.

"We lost Ryan and Chiho." She explained. "I came to get the Sheriff."

"Looks like you two are going to get your first opportunity to perform god parent duties." Nancy sighed as she reluctantly handed a sleeping Evan to Martha.

"We'll be fine." Martha assured her. "We'll be at the farm."

Nancy nodded before she turned to Kyla who put a hand on her shoulder and teleported them out.

* * *

"Ryan, I can't feel Uzume." Chiho said worriedly as she stayed close to her boyfriend.

"If she can't find us then Harry or Clark will." Ryan assured her as he put an arm around her shoulders. "Our job is to stay alive and safe until they do."

The pair had been walking down an empty corridor at the High School when they felt a horrible pull in their stomachs before landing in a heap in what was clearly a replica of the High School. They had been unable to teleport out or communicate with anyone. They couldn't even breach the walls.

Ryan, who had studied magic with the rest of Lorna and Cassandra's class at the castle, was able to identify magical wards. Unfortunately he wasn't able to break them.

"I have a plan." Ryan turned to Chiho. "We can't break through the wards, but we might be able to dig under them."

"Do not wards form a complete barrier?" She asked curiously.

"Some do, but most are just built in to the ground. They usually extend a few metres down. We just have to start digging."

"But our magic doesn't work in here."

"Then we find some tools and do it the hard way. I am the son of a farmer after all." He gave a grin.

***THUD***

"Son of a bitch!" The couple turned to see Kyla lying sprawled on the floor and trying to pick herself up.

"Kyla!" Chiho cried in relief. "You have come to rescue us?"

"Oh… hi guys." She said with a wince as she stood.

"You got captured as well, didn't you?" Ryan smirked.

"All I did was open my locker and I got pulled here. It was _not_ a fun experience." She grumbled.

Ryan picked up a nearby chair. "Here, try and bend the legs."

Kyla looked at him curiously but easily bent the metal legs.

"Good, you still have your strength. Our magic doesn't work but it will make digging that much more easier."

"Can't I just break the windows or doors?"

"You can try, but we couldn't smash the glass."

"I'll go check."

Kyla returned after an unsuccessful attempt at breaking out to find both Lana and Chloe were also present.

"This is so embarrassing." Chloe groaned. "We're supposed to be highly trained warriors and we got caught up in simple trap."

"Simple? It was a magical trap Chloe. We have never been trained to look for those." Lana sighed.

"Safe to say those will be put on the agenda. I guess we know what we will be doing this summer." Kyla shrugged.

"Training on the island?" Chloe asked.

Kyla just nodded.

"Someone's here!" Ryan hissed as he began looking around.

The three Amazons took up defensive stances around Chiho and Ryan.

"_I'm glad you could join me." _A voice came over the speakers.

"Brendan? What the hell is going on?" Chloe demanded as she recognised the voice of the school photographer.

"_We're going to spend the rest of our lives reliving the best times of our lives! I had this whole plan set up where you would need to be turned to wax, it's a little gift of mine. But since Potter gave us magic and all those books, I found a much better plan."_ The excitement was clear in Brendan's voice, even though they couldn't see him.

"Harry Potter has been tracking down all sorts of people for millions of years." Ryan called out. "Finding you will be fairly simple."

"_Magic has rules. Even Potter has to abide by them."_ The voice argued.

"Harry _is_ Magic. He _makes_ the rules dumbass." Kyla sneered.

"Come on, let's start digging." Lana suggested as she headed towards the metal shop.

In the metal shop they were relieved to discover that the entire inventory was present. Everything from hammers to table saws.

"Choose what you want and then hand them to me." Ryan instructed. "We might not be able to use magic but we can still carve runes."

"But we can't power the runes or charge them." Chloe pointed out.

"Xander is going to be eating so much crow." Ryan smirked. "Lorna taught us how to tap into things like wards and shields just in case we ever exhausted our magical reserves. I can use the wards keeping us in to charge the runes and make your weapons indestructible."

"Could you not use runes to drain the wards?" Chiho asked.

Ryan raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "I might be able to. It will be a bit of an experiment so I will fix the tools first and then Chiho and I can work on draining the wards."

* * *

Thirty minutes later Superman, Wonder Woman and Harry were floating above a warehouse.

"That's the place." Harry stated. "It has a whole bunch of wards up… not very good ones though."

"Then I shall bring them down personally!" Wonder Woman snarled as she sped down towards the warehouse.

"Wonder Woman! Wai-"

***CRASH***

"Huh… she shouldn't have been able to do that." Harry mused.

"Maybe they were really weak." Superman suggested.

"No, they would have kept out anything other than a god with brute force. It would take a ward breaker to do it properly, but they were shoddily put up."

"Wonder Woman is empowered by the gods."

"No, she doesn't have the spark of divinity like you do. Come on lets find out what happened."

* * *

In the warehouse, Kyla, Lana and Chloe watched in amazement as their princess crashed through the ceiling. Unfortunately she landed metres away from where Chiho and Ryan were working and the blast sent the two hurtling back.

"Where is the fiend who would dare harm my sisters?" Wonder Woman snarled angrily as she drew her sword.

"He's here." Harry announced as he appeared with Superman and Brendan. Brendan appeared to be made of wax. "He tried to do something to Superman with his powers but it backfired."

"Diana! In the future, pay attention to where you land!" The group turned to see Ryan and Chiho walking up. Ryan was not pleased.

"What happened?" Superman asked his little brother.

"She sent us into the wall when she landed and nearly killed us! If Chiho and I didn't know how to heal ourselves we would be dead. Chiho's lung was punctured by a rib."

"Goddess forgive me!" Wonder Woman exclaimed in horror. "Harry, please make sure they are ok." She begged her soul mate. "I am truly sorry. I had no idea you were there."

"It's not entirely her fault." Kyla said. "We do seem to be lacking a few magical skills. We will be asking Xander to include them in the next training sessions."

"What skills?" Superman asked.

"How to deal with wards for one thing." Chloe said, slightly disgusted at her ignorance. "We had no idea how to detect them or the traps that brought us here. Ryan knew how to observe them and he was using the wards to power runes before he used runes to drain the wards."

"You drained the wards Ryan?" Harry asked; he was clearly impressed.

"I was trying to. I think it was working, we were interrupted though." Ryan eyed Wonder Woman glibly, there was much less anger there though.

"That explains how Wonder Woman was able to break through the wards." Harry nodded. "Ryan and Chiho must have drained them as she hit them."

"Leaps and bounds little brother." Superman grinned proudly at Ryan. "Wait till Mom and Dad hear about this."

"Yeah, Clark's first adventure involved him being strung up like a scarecrow." Harry laughed.

"I'm not the one who got bitch slapped by Bug Boy." Superman countered.

"Sisters, I will leave you here to help Harry and Superman. I will go and speak with our Queen and Xander immediately regarding our training gaps." Wonder Woman stated as she ignored the bickering pair.

* * *

The group of high schoolers were headed into the Talon after a long and stressful day. They wanted an hour or so before they headed home to start panicking about the following days graduation ceremony.

"Miss Lang, I require a moment of your time." The group looked up to see Genevieve Teague standing there.

"What do you want?" Lana sighed tiredly from her coffee.

"Just a private conversation, my car is parked outside." She said sternly.

"Anything you want to say to me can be said in front of my friends. I have no reason to go anywhere with you."

"Didn't Coach Summers ban you from the Talon?" Chloe asked with narrowed eyes.

Genevieve ignored her. "I believe Jason would also like a _word_ with you." She said pointedly as an evil smirk grew on her face. The woman thought she had Lana where she wanted.

Lana turned to look at the Cuckoos.

"_Jason is in the car and she wants the Crystal of Air. She thinks you have it and she is prepared to kill the both of you for it."_ They told her.

"_I'll go, keep track of me."_ Lana sent back. "Fine, lead the way." She scowled at the bi- woman.

"After _you._" Genevieve said pointedly as she stepped back.

Lana stepped out of the Talon to the waiting stretch limousine. She didn't wait as she opened the door, saw Jason and took a seat next to him. Genevieve followed quickly… Lana smirked as she watched the woman clumsily try to close the wide open door from seated inside. Clearly she wasn't used to doing this without her driver.

Lana tried to keep her expression neutral as she felt a large invisible form take a seat next to her. Her knee was then tapped three times. She relaxed as she realised she had backup and implicit permission to use magic… which was a good thing considering the gun Genevieve pulled from her purse.

"Mom! What the hell! You said you would leave Lana alone if I came with you." Jason exclaimed.

"Yes." She said mockingly. "It is such a shame how hormones can affect a young man's judgement."

"Can we get to the point Jen?" Lana requested snidely. "I doubt you brought me here at gun point just to ask me to stay away from Jason."

Genevieve bristled at the name Lana called her, but calmed herself. "I want the Crystal of Air. I know you have it. You are the heir of Countess of Margaret Isobel Thoreaux and you were marked by her. We managed to track down a copy of the map and I was not surprised to discover the Crystal had already been found.

"So you are going to take me to the Crystal." She smirked.

"There is no Crystal." Lana shrugged.

"Do not play me for a fool girl!" Genevieve snarled.

"It was destroyed. Along with the Crystals of Water and Fire. It was a fairly annoying event." Lana said calmly.

"You destroyed the Crystals?!" Genevieve asked in horror.

"Lana didn't. The Traveller did."

Lana was shocked when, instead of Clark or one of the other usual suspects became visible in the seat next to her, Virgil Swann did.

"Virgil! How did you get in here?" Genevieve demanded as she turned the gun on him.

"Through the wonderful gift of magic." He smiled enigmatically.

"Uncle Virgil, are we really giving my _mother_ this information?" Jason asked nervously.

Virgil laughed. "Your mother has kidnapped and threatened an Amazon. You do recall what happened mere hours ago?"

Jason suddenly looked worried. "Do we need to exit the car quick?"

"Princess Diana is currently restraining herself… well, she is being distracted by Harry." He amended.

"What is going on here?" Genevieve demanded. "Virgil, why are you here? Are you searching for the stones too?"

"No Jen." Virgil smiled as he used the same backhanded insult as Lana. "I work for Potter. I regularly come to the Talon for a cup of tea and to enjoy the company of the locals. Wonderful people." He added as an aside. "I saw you approach my friend Lana and decided to tag along as I am well aware of the issues she and Jason have had with you.

"Incidentally, you have a wonderful son. I have no idea how you managed to raise him to be nothing like you."

Genevieve's dander once again rose.

She squashed it to remain focused on her goal. "Take me to the Crystal or I will kill Virgil. Then I will kill Jason. Then I will take my time torturing the information from you."

"_Ok, now you should exit the car!"_ Came the panicked mental warning from the Cuckoos.

The three magicals teleported out just as a pair of slender booted feet slammed through the roof followed by the rest of a busty, ebony-haired woman. The roof tore like tinfoil.

Genevieve pulled the trigger on her gun only for nothing to happen. She quickly tried to exit the car but the doors were jammed shut.

She could only watch in terror as Wonder Woman literally ripped the limousine down the middle from bonnet to boot.

Wonder Woman was known as more of a warrior than a 'hero'. She didn't bother keeping the criminals she captured in one piece. She brought them in unconscious, missing limbs and even dead.

She had once been questioned by a reporter lurking at a police station about whether the dead criminal she had just brought in deserved a second chance or if he could have been innocent.

Diana had nearly gutted the reporter. The criminal had been in the act of raping a young girl. It had taken all of Harry's wives and her Amazon sisters to calm her down that evening.

Clark's Sekirei had been too busy trying to prevent Tsukiumi from going to do the job for the Princess.

"So you are the petty woman who would harm my sister." Diana snarled at the woman who was attempting to back up through the car. "You will pay for your insolence and your crimes."

"Diana, a suggestion if I might?"

Diana turned to see Xander calmly walking up.

"Sebastos." Diana said with an inclined head. 'Sebastos' was what the Amazons had taken to calling Xander, meaning 'Venerable One'. Xander had been a little miffed at first because he thought they were calling him old.

"Mrs Teague here fears a prophecy. One that claims the heir of Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux will kill her. I was never one for prophecy, but this sounds like something we should help come to pass." Xander explained as he circled the now shaking woman.

"Lana has never taken a life before." Diana frowned.

"She has killed to eat. She must learn to kill to protect." Xander stated. "Your youngest sisters have been lucky so far that they have avoided the kill. But times are looming where the Nation of Aphrodite's Daughters will need to stand firm and end certain threats with the sword." He lectured.

"I will not force her to do so. But I will offer her the chance." Diana nodded. She turned and beckoned the younger woman over.

"Princess, Sebastos." Lana bowed to the two.

"Sister, there is a prophecy stating that you will kill Genevieve Teague and gain revenge for your ancestor the Countess. Sebastos believes we should allow you to fulfil this prophecy." Diana explained.

Lana was clearly taken aback. "She is the mother of the man I love. I do not believe I could do that to him."

Diana looked to Xander who rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Yeah… I kinda forgot about that part." He chuckled nervously. "Still, ask him. The prophecy should be placed in your hands. The reason I was sent to Harry was because of a prophecy. He didn't have to fulfil it but it did help put him on the path to becoming the man he is today."

"Extremely insane?" Lana asked dryly.

"Lana!" Diana scolded lightly. "You may be right, but you should still show respect." She chided, but the laughter was there in her eyes.

"Of course my Princess." Lana gave a respectful bow. "Idiot." She muttered to Xander.

Diana had a temporary case of intermittent deafness.

"Diana, why don't you help Lana talk to Jason whilst Virg' and I keep an eye on the old bag here."

"Old bag?" Virgil asked with a grin as the ladies moved off.

"I have no idea why I still have an American accent. I spent a majority of my life in Britain raising British and French kids." Xander sighed. "I picked up most of the lingo too."

"Fairly accurate though." Virgil shrugged.

"I deserve a trial! Don't you believe in justice? Due process? We are Americans!" Genevieve cried out.

Virgil just scoffed. "I used to believe in truth, justice and the American way. Now I just believe in truth and justice… but I have high hopes America will give me reason to believe in it again."

"I know more than just the secrets of the Crystals Virgil. I can give you all sorts of power and riches." Genevieve said in a slight panic from the floor.

"Genevieve, I've been given back full control of my body and the chance to live for the next three millennia. I will serve the Traveller and his family for all of that time and I will enjoy every day as I get to watch my daughter live.

"There is absolutely nothing you can offer me." Virgil said sternly. "Now do yourself a favour and shut up."

In response Genevieve did what any individual facing a death sentence would do.

She ran.

She made it all of five metres before she ran into a solid wall that sent her sprawling back on the floor. Looking up she saw Virgil standing there calmly.

"Virgil, please. Have mercy!" Genevieve begged.

"Mercy?" Virgil mused thoughtfully. He looked towards Xander curiously. "It is only fair that we give her some measure of mercy. We are better than her after all."

"What did you have in mind?" Xander asked as he strolled up.

"I believe we should allow her the same level of mercy as she would have shown Lana." He said simply.

"Wonderful idea my good man!" Xander grinned as he grabbed the woman by the back of her designer jacket and pulled her to her feet. He then marched her back to where Diana, Lorna and Jason were discussing things within a protective circle of a bunch of Amazons freshly arrived from Themiscyra.

"Don't worry folks, they are just over protective." Xander assured the various townspeople. "Ladies, we seek an audience with your Princess and you your sister, Lana Lang."

"Of course Sebastos." The lead Amazon bowed respectfully.

"Shut up Kyla." Xander snapped in annoyance at the giggling Amazon in the back.

"Yes, Oh Venerable One." She grinned.

Xander just pouted causing the other Amazons to start giggling as well. They soon stopped as Lana, Jason and Diana approached.

Diana looked calm, Lana looked confused and Jason had face of stone.

"Problem?" Xander asked.

"Lana can't believe I have no problems with her killing my mother." Jason shrugged. "Lets face it, it's practically in the relationship hand-book for girlfriends and wives to hate mothers-in-law. Getting to kill her should be a red-letter day! Ow!"

Lana glared at Jason whilst he rubbed his chest. "This is not a time for jokes, Jason. This is your mother we are talking about."

Xander placed a calming hand on Lana's shoulder. "Lana, take it from someone who's been in Jason's shoes. For some of us it would have been better to grow up as orphans."

"Jason, I believe Lana is struggling because unlike you, she never got to grow up with her parents." Virgil offered. "She can't believe anyone would so easily throw away what she has wanted all her life."

Jason grimaced a little. "Lana, that woman just tried to kill not only me, but the woman I love. She didn't suddenly wake up this morning and think to herself 'how can I mess with my son today?' She has been building up to this day. I am nothing but a tool for her. She was never really a mother, just a woman with a fashionable accessory… like small dog in a handbag."

Lana sighed unhappily. "Your Highness, I am willing to kill, even to execute if it is ordered of me. But I beg you not make me perform this execution. I don't want Jason to have to associate me with the murder of his mother, no matter how he might feel about her now."

Diana looked to Xander for counsel.

Xander slightly moved Genevieve away from the women and shook his head.

"Very well. I will perform this execution for you my sister." She said calmly.

"Genevieve Teague, you-"

"A moment, Wonder Woman."

The assembled turned to see Superman standing there in full uniform.

"Given the nature of her crimes, and the fact that I am also one of her intended victims, I believe her fate should be left to me."

"She has attacked and tried to kill an Amazon!" Diana objected.

"One of my Amazons." He reminded her gently.

Diana bowed her head in acceptance and stepped back.

"I have never done anything to you!" Genevieve begged.

"You sought to control the Traveller and steal all that was his for yourself." Superman said stonily. "I am the Traveller."

Genevieve's face took on an expression of awe. "We were right."

"And now you are dead."

A bolt of green light shot from Superman's hand killing Genevieve Teague and ripping her soul from her body. He reached out and took hold of the soul but left it invisible.

"Listen to me, all of you!" He said loudly to the Amazons and watching townspeople. "This woman was prophesied to die at the hands of Lana Lang centuries ago. Let this be a lesson to you all that prophecies are not iron clad. There is always another way."

Superman turned to Jason. "I am sorry for your loss." He said respectfully.

Jason looked at him with a curious frown but a hint of eagerness. "You're holding her soul right now, aren't you?"

Superman sighed. Jason got on well with Harry and Xander for a reason after all. "Yes Jason, I am about to take her soul to Harry."

"Just curious." He shrugged. "If you'll excuse me, I think I need to go and console my girlfriend after that horrific kidnapping experience."

Superman looked at the now outraged Lana Lang over Jason's shoulder and shrugged. "Your funeral. Call me if you need a body dealt with." He called out to Lana before he teleported out.

* * *

Jason managed to survive the wrath of Lana Lang… but his wallet took a hit as she made him pay for it by taking her and her fellow graduates out for a celebratory meal. Lana was feeling vindictive enough to make him take them to the latest Wayne Hotel in Metropolis.

She didn't want him to find out that just the mention of their names got them special service and a free meal as friends and family of the owner so she had Kyla and Clark go in early and arrange things with the Maître d.

She would forever relish the look on his face as he was handed the bill.

Then Clark took pity on him and told him the meal was free.

Then Lana made him tip far too excessively.

She then left him with Clark as she went off with her friends for a final sleepover as high school girls.

Revenge was hers.

And it was good.


	65. Chapter 65

Unfortunately it was the end of the school year and as Xander and Harry frequently pointed out; the biggest disasters and evil jerks arrive round about then.

Everything from The Harvest to Harry being tortured in the graveyard, they all happened at the end of the school year.

Graduation was cancelled and the town was woken from it's slumber at four in the morning by tornado sirens going off and people being shuffled through the portal door in the castle and straight to Japan and the many hotels owned by MBI.

Whilst the entire town of Smallville marched through the castle the residents were meeting with the world's heroes in the Great Hall.

"An hour ago the Odin observed a large spacecraft entering our solar system just beyond Jupiter." Virgil announced. The Odin was one of the Amaterasu class ships along with the Zeus. Virgil was one of the senior members of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency or JAXA. He liaised with the castle on matters of importance or safety for the planet. He was also responsible for requesting the help of Superman or the Green Lanterns when necessary.

"The ship is not the only issue. In it's wake it brought a meteor field."

"Any sign it is accidental?" Tess asked.

"A ship of that tech level and size does not accidentally drag meteors with it." Scott frowned as he examined the video, photos and sensor readings taken by the various satellites left around the system and various planets by the Amaterasu. "The field is concealing something."

"Estimated point of impact?" John Stewart asked. Hal and Sinestro were busy elsewhere and John was the Lantern on call.

"Smallville." Virgil answered stiffly.

"All those who think it's a coincidence… ?" Xander asked as he raised his hand.

Everyone just sat there.

"That's what I thought." He said as he put his hand down.

"Anybody been able to identify the origin?" Logan asked.

"No. It doesn't match any known species." Laura answered as she checked the database from her console.

"Have we tried making contact?" Clark asked.

"On everything from radio's to Lantern rings." Virgil nodded. "Kilowog is advising and assisting at JAXA right now."

"Are they in range for a telepathic scan?" Lorna asked, turning to Jean.

"No, and they won't be until they reach the moon." She answered.

"Remind me to work on a Cerebro unit for the space ships." Harry muttered.

"I can think of one simple approach." Clark said cautiously. "But I could use some backup."

"Is this going to be something on a Harry scale of stupid?" Chloe asked sceptically.

"At it's basic concept… yes. But it will mean we might be able to deal the threat out there and not on Earth." Clark said uncomfortably.

"Go on, what's your plan?" Neville asked curiously.

"I could… go up and knock on their door." Clark squirmed in his seat. It sounded so ridiculous.

"Ha! I love it!"

Unless you were Xander Harris.

"Clark… the only reason it sounded Harry-esque is because of how you worded it." Emma sighed. "You should have said: 'I could go up and try to make contact in person.'"

Clark scowled at Harry who was grinning madly. "This is all your fault."

"I prefer Supe's version best." Barry grinned. "Much easier for us lowly civil servants to understand."

"What backup did you intend?" Bruce asked.

Barry much preferred it when Bruce Wayne wasn't in his costume. He hated that gravelly voice.

"Either Emma, Jean or the Cuckoos for telepathic reconnaissance, Xander for hand to hand and general thinking outside the box and Laura for additional hand to hand and technical assistance."

"Take both Emma and Jean." Neville instructed. "There will still be three Phoenixes on Earth and the Cuckoos and Ryan can handle telepathy."

"What about us Amazons?" Kyla asked.

"You need to stay on Earth." Clark shook his head. "If the planet catches wind of this thing heading for Earth then we will see rioting again."

"We'll also need to be on alert for the anti-alien groups again." Loki scowled. "This will be something to use as a platform to rally people to their cause."

"We can deal with that later." Harry said firmly. "We have our plan, Clark, do what you need to, we'll secure the planet."

* * *

The team of five teleported to Mars just as the ship and meteors where passing by.

Each team member was dressed in their uniform. For Superman his customary jeans, t-shirt and cape. For Emma that meant… practically nothing.

They were all equipped with the standard Avengers Communication set that allowed for communication in everything from a vacuum to high intensity lightning storms. Which was useful considering Superman's abilities.

Everyone but Superman was invisible as they wanted to make contact before resorting to fighting.

The alien vessel had a rounded base that was clearly the engine, mechanical tentacles that looked like rows of beads extended far out of the base, moving around and clearly searching. The top of the ship had an array of what appeared to be sensor antennae.

The ship was around the size of the small White Martian ships.

The tentacles seemed to know Superman was there and instantly tried to grab him.

"Trojan Horse." Superman instructed his team. "Follow me in."

Superman let one of the tentacles grab him and was instantly shocked with some form of energy that knocked him out.

Unfortunately the tentacles moved faster than they could fly as they dragged Superman to a hexagonal airlock. The doors closed behind the Man of Steel whilst they were still several metres away.

"I'll try phasing through." Laura said.

"Xander, any ideas?" Jean asked. "Xander?" She repeated as she received no response and they were all still invisible. "Emma?"

"Here."

"Laura?"

"Still here, I couldn't get through, I also tried to teleport but couldn't." Laura reported.

"Then where is Xander?"

"It is possible he managed to get in before the doors closed." Emma postulated. "Jean, can you flame in?"

There was a pause. "No, whatever shields they have up, they are fairly comprehensive."

"Then we have to wait." Laura sighed. "We might as well use the time to examine the ship from outside. Jean can you get back to Earth and report in?"

"I'll be-"

"There! The meteor field, it's accelerating." Emma interrupted.

"It's too far out for it to be the Earth's pull." Jean frowned.

"Then you report this too." Emma said pointedly.

* * *

Back on Earth things were beginning to go to pot.

Lex was on the phone with some idiot with an electronic voice. He had been receiving calls for the past few months but they made no sense. Something about preparing their world for preservation. He had ordered the technical department to track it down and redirect the calls but the caller still got through.

The major problem was that nearly every form of robot in the city of Metropolis had been taken over by a foreign intelligence with the same voice. Everything from automated car assembly robots to the latest in android developments. They had begun building other robots out of parts and they were all searching for one thing…

The Kryptonian.

They had started by claiming they were going to preserve significant artefacts before they destroyed the planet. Now they were hell bent on finding the Kryptonian.

"Who are you? Are you the one controlling these… 'Terminauts'?" Lex demanded down the phone at the mystery caller. 'Terminaut' was the name the robots had given themselves.

"_YOU WERE TO HAVE THE KRYPTONIAN PREPARED. WE WOULD ENSURE YOUR SURVIVAL."_ The mechanical voice sounded.

"Oh damn it." Lex muttered as he realised this was probably something the clone had done. He picked up the phone on his desk and activated the announcement system for LuthorCorp Towers. "This is Lex Luthor. Effective immediately you are to exit the building. Please enter the waiting buses that will take you out of the city. We are about to be at the centre of an Alien attack. This is not a drill." He slammed the phone down angrily.

"Alien invasion?" Tess asked tiredly.

"Well, it's only fair. I did miss the last one after all." Lex joked. "I think that blasted clone was in communication with whatever Clark is dealing with up there. He offered Clark in exchange for his own survival."

"Do you think General Lane knows?"

"That is where we will be heading now." Lex said as he put on his jacket and they headed for the door.

* * *

In Smallville the town was now completely deserted. The only people present were the Sekirei who would be dealing with whatever landed with the meteor shower.

Matsu had calculated the centre of the area where the meteors would strike and there were now a full 107 Sekirei present and accounted for in the fields of the Kent Farm.

Pamela accompanied Kusano in her guise as the May Queen's Handmaiden and Alec in his Swamp thing persona. It wasn't possible for Harry to put Alec into a new body as his soul was too much a part of the planet, or The Green as he called it. But he had worked hard with Emma and Kusano to control his plant form so that he actually looked like his old self. Even his skin colour was normal… there are lot's of different coloured flowers after all.

The Swamp Thing currently looked nothing like the lurking monster of the Louisiana Bayou. He looked like a real knight of old, but his armour was made of the strongest wood. Nothing was getting past him to his charge, the May Queen.

Kusano's job was to listen to the plants and to tell the others if something other than a rock landed. She thought that was a pretty boring job but she had been taught that everyone had their place in a battle.

Due to the varied powers of the Sekirei, they weren't going to be focusing on using them. Instead they had brought in the anti-grav mines that disposed of the White Martian invaders. What they missed with those the Sekirei with the more destructive powers would try to pulverise into smaller pieces before they hit the ground.

Even now they could see the first streaks in the clear blue skies as the initial fragments burnt up in the atmosphere.

* * *

"What idiot decided that plugging a man into a machine like this and not having a kill switch was a good idea?" Dani demanded as she dodged another blast from the man in the huge battle suit by diving behind a jeep.

"That would be this idiot." Came a deep voice as another armoured man landed next to him. "And I _am_ the kill switch." With that the large and imposing African-American in a suit of armour blasted away from Dani and Wolverine and into the _other_ armoured man.

"Huh… do you think he calls himself 'War Machine'?" Wolverine wondered as he lit a cigar.

"What are you two doing here?" Lex asked as he appeared with Tess. "Where's General Lane?"

"We were dealing with the… white guy in the armour. The black guy is sorting it out for now and I prefer to stay here and not be smooshed." Dani said fervently.

"And the General?" Lex prompted.

"On the floor behind you." Wolverine shrugged.

Tess and Lex turned to see the General handcuffed to the bumper of the jeep they were hiding behind.

"Why?" Lex asked pleadingly as he turned to Dani.

"Because he was a prime target for the old Tin Man back there and he was planning on going toe-to-toe with it." Wolverine glared at the General who was clearly sulking.

"I could have talked him down!" Sam argued.

"He was _not_ in the mood to listen." Dani countered. "Who is that jerk anyway? He seems to have a hard on for Clark."

"Clark?" Tess said disbelievingly.

"That is Major John Corben. One of my aides. He and Lois grew up and were good friends. I always knew that John had a thing for Lois but I thought he respected the fact that she wasn't interested.

"He is also against the current political situation. Earlier today he forged my signature on documents that allowed him to activate the Steel Soldier program. The Steel Soldier being what John is wearing now."

"Who's the other guy?" Tess queried.

"Dr. John Henry Irons. The creator of the Steel Soldier."

"He is a Steel Driving man." Dani mused appreciatively as he watched the man swing his hammer.

"Not now Dani." Tess sighed.

"You're just jealous because I got there first." Dani sneered childishly.

"Can we focus please?" Lex begged. "Are we saying that this Corben is going to head for the White House if he defeats us here?"

"At best guess." The General nodded. "I think the human-computer interface might be corrupted though as he has never displayed this sort of loss of control."

"BRING ME THE KRYPTONIAN!"

"See, he keeps going on about Kent."

"He said Kryptonian." Lex pointed out.

"Right. Kent."

"That is a secret protected by magic." Lex reasoned impatiently. "He's not after Clark, he's after Superman and I don't think your Major is in control anymore."

"Weird… he specifically said Clark Kent earlier." Dani mused as the General nodded.

"Kid, we better get back in there." Wolverine patted his partner's shoulder as he saw Irons get knocked back badly.

Lex turned back to the General. "I think my clone was in communication with the alien vessel approaching the planet and I think the alien has taken control of your Steel Soldier."

***BOOM***

"I don't think the Steel Soldier is a problem anymore." Tess grimaced as they watched Dani and Wolverine start hacking at the remains of the fallen Major to make it less of a threat.

Irons had already managed to blow an arm off.

"Lex, is there anything you know that we can use at the moment?" Sam turned to the younger man.

"Only that Superman is the target of this alien and that all these aggressive robots are part of its army."

"And Superman is already up there with his team. I don't think there is anything we can do other than continue to try and fight the robots here on the planet."

"Does that include our own men, General?" Irons asked as he walked up with Dani and Wolverine.

"It means anyone who threatens innocent lives, Doctor. We'll talk about your little suit there later. Just be sure to deliver it to Wayne Industries or MBI for safe keeping when this is over."

"The suit is mine General. It will only work for me." Irons said firmly.

"But can you protect it? Wayne and Kent won't keep you from it or prevent you from using it, they will just keep it from others and maybe help with maintenance and upgrades."

"Take the suit to them, Doctor Irons." Lex agreed. "You built it for a reason and they can definitely help you use it for that reason."

"I'm surprised you aren't demanding it for yourself, Luthor." He pointed out suspiciously.

"I would love to have a look at what you've built. But not as a Luthor." Lex said seriously.

"I'm going to patrol the city and deal with any… other…robo… what the hell is that?" Irons asked as they looked up into the sky to see what appeared to be a huge dome descending over most of Metropolis up to the Hobbs River that they were outside of.

"Seriously? The Simpsons did this ages ago." Dani grumbled.

Then the city and the dome vanished.

"Oh… well that's fairly new." She admitted slightly impressed.

"Shit! You three, get out there and do damage control." The General ordered the three costumed heroes. "Irons, stay with those two, you're new to this sort of thing and they can steer you round the curves."

"Tsk, young people today. Always so bossy." Dani sighed as she took off into the air.

The General was slowly getting used to the eccentric ways of Potter and his family. He had developed a sound strategy for dealing with them… he ignored them.

"Lex, unless you have a plan I suggest you put on a mask and help your friends save as many civilians as you can." He instructed the billionaire and his sister. Who was also a billionaire… she just didn't advertise it.

As General Lane marched off to assemble his men to deal with the city Lex turned to Tess. "Well I do have that suit of armour Harry and Scott gave me."

"Fine, just… I'd rather you got on a computer or something and tried to figure out what happened to Metropolis, my sisters were in the city." She said worriedly.

"The armour it is then. It has a highly sophisticated computer system and scanning suite!" He added hastily at Tess' angry glare.

* * *

"Someone somewhere is going to get sued for copyright infringement." Lois muttered as she hovered at the edge of the enclosure with the Kyla and Chloe. "I swear, first it was alien tripods from War of the Worlds and now we've got a dome straight out of Stephen King."

"What happened?" Kyla asked.

"Most of the people died. It was some sort of ant farm by alien kids." Lois shrugged.

"Well… I hate to be the one to say it… but I don't think we are in Kansas anymore." Chloe sighed as she indicated the Earth, visible out of the window on the other side of the dome.

"We've been miniaturised!" Kyla cried in disgust.

"I swear to god. One word out of those idiots about 'little women' and I will kick their asses." Lois scowled.

"We should probably get to work on a way out of here before we have to be rescued. I wouldn't put it past Xander to start calling us 'damsels in distress'." Chloe sighed.

* * *

"_-ving!"_

Superman winced at the seemingly loud voice. He wasn't sure if it was actually loud as he felt like he had drunk several bottles of Fire Whiskey.

"_Bre- -ing!"_

He still wasn't sure what had happened. But he cracked an eyelid and tried to focus.

"_Kryptonian!"_

Right, now he remembered. He got caught trying to enter the ship. He wasn't prepared for an energy-based weapon.

The voice kept talking… but Superman ignored it in favour of something else he could hear.

A radio station from Metropolis.

He quickly stood and tore through the tentacles holding him down. He raced through metallic grey corridors following the sound of the radio as the voice issued status updates to… no one.

Superman didn't encounter a single being as he sped down the halls.

But he came to a horrified stop as he entered a large room filled large twelve-foot tall bell jars.

Each jar contained a miniaturised city.

But only one caught Superman's attention… Metropolis.

He could see the people screaming on the streets, the Amazons trying to calm them.

"_Secure. Seal. Preserve."_ Came the mechanical voice.

"Who are you? Talk to me!" Superman demanded as he looked around the room.

"_We are the Colony of the Collector of Worlds. We know everything there is to know. On Yod-Colu we began as C.O.M.P.U.T.O. On Noma they called us 'Pneumenoid'. On Bryak: MIND__2__. On Krypton… where you were born… we were BRANIAC 1.0."_

"ARRRGH!" Superman yelled as he was hit from behind. He went flying forward to sprawl at the bottom of the glass jars.

He picked himself up and saw a large robotic figure half hidden in the shadows, it's arm glowing with energy.

"What do you want? Send these people home!"

"_We know everything Earth culture knows. But it knows so little of you… it knows only what you have divulged. Do you really know so little of your history? _

"_We have amassed the only complete collection of Kryptoniana in known volumes of space time. But without the Rocket Cradle… without you… it is incomplete."_

"Rocket Cradle? You mean the ship I came here in?" He asked curiously. "I destroyed that a few years ago.

"Send these people home. If you have the knowledge of their culture then you don't need the people or the city."

The voice ignored him.

"_You are a level eight being raised by level three beings. You come from a race of 'super-beings'. Tell me, if forced to choose between your home planet and your adopted planet: Which would it be?"_

"I don't play sadistic games. Send these people home now." He ordered.

"_As part of this test we will disengage life support for Krypton city bottle habitat, Kan-dor and Earth city bottle habitat, Met-rop-ol-is."_ The voice was mocking. Not having trouble speaking the names. It was mocking Superman by mispronouncing them. _"You have fifteen minutes to decide which of the two you wish to save. Whom are you loyal to?"_

"You have living Kryptonians here?" Superman asked in surprise.

"_All subjects in the Collection are subject to condition: null. _

"_Find a way to awaken Kan-dor from micro-stasis… you would no longer be alone._

"_The truth of your origins lies there._

"_Dressed in the indestructible armour your kindred wore on lordly Krypton, you could dwell as a king among kings in Kan-dor._

"_Or save the people on Earth who hate and despise you."_

"The armour of my people… the regalia of kings you say." Superman mused thoughtfully as he moved to a different jar. This one contained a one-piece suit, the type of thing Scott wore but in white. "Is this a _copy_ of that armour?" He asked mockingly.

"_That is an authentic battle suit. There are no replicas in the Collection."_

Superman allowed himself to smirk. He had not only pissed off the voice but he had gotten the information he needed.

"That's all I needed to know." He said as he punched the glass and grabbed the suit.

* * *

The Sekirei were actually having fun as they punted large rocks back into the sky. The disciplinary squad was hard at work catching the ones that the anti-grav launchers missed.

"_Miya, an un-natural object has landed in the Kent corn field."_

Miya growled as she heard Pamela's report. They had expected the shower was cover for an infiltration of some sort. Now she would have to deal with it.

"Karasuba, Yume, with me." She ordered.

Karasuba was still a bit of a wild card. She had a thirst for violence and Harry had been all set to terminate her and have her reborn, but Miya wanted to do things her way. As the Sekirei Goddess he respected her decision.

Miya had challenged Karasuba in the arena. Karasuba had jumped at the chance.

She regretted it and definitely learned her place after Miya took her down systematically and calmly, just as she had done with Ares. In fact, Karasuba was where she had refined her style.

Once she was healed and back to one hundred percent Clark also challenged her.

The fight was over in one punch.

There was now no question who was in charge and what would happen to her if she stepped out of line.

It took the three Sekirei less than a minute to reach the field and find the ship.

It was very sleek, a shiny black with no visible seams. It was a similar shape to the symbol for the House of El. An inverted, elongated triangle.

The only thing that marred the beauty of the ships craftsmanship was the fact that it had crashed in a field instead of landing.

"Perhaps Matsu would be of assistance?" Yume offered.

"Agreed. Call her and ask the Cuckoos to scan the ship." Miya instructed.

But before Yume could finish her call the top of the ship melted away allowing two individuals to exit; a tall black man with a baldhead and a white woman with dark hair. Both were wearing tight, form fitting black clothing that looked more like combat wear.

"You have landed on the planet Earth. State your intentions." Miya demanded.

The two beings seemed to ignore Miya and the other two Sekirei as they gazed around them.

"I see only women." The man said in disgust. "Where is Kal-El?" He asked arrogantly.

"What business do you have with Lord Kal-El?" Miya asked with narrowed eyes.

"'Lord' Kal-El?" The woman laughed mockingly. "This planet is already ours. General Zod will be pleased when we release him."

"You are invaders then." Miya nodded. "Surrender now or we will be forced to kill you." She said as she drew her sword.

The man sneered at her. "Your very sun gives us the power that makes us your gods. You will make a fine slave; I have never seen wings like yours though. You will be the gift General Zod gives to me for our success."

"General Zod. Leader of the Kryptonian army and then the traitor who committed grievous crimes against the people of Krypton and its colonies." Came the gravelly voice of Batman as he teleported in next to Miya holding a long case.

He didn't spare the aliens a glance as he knelt down and placed the case on the ground.

"This is how you should greet your new masters." The woman smirked. "On your knees with gifts."

Batman continued to talk as he began removing items and passing them to the three Sekirei. Three katanas. He pulled a fourth out and slotted it down his back. "Zod was a brilliant tactician, but his desires and plans only appealed to the worst Krypton had to offer. The worst are usually the dumbest as well."

He turned to Miya who was glaring at him. "It always pays to be prepared."

"We will be discussing this later." She warned him as she pulled the blade from its sheath.

Instantly the two aliens fell to their knees in pain.

Karasuba pulled out her new blade and grinned as she examined it. Embedded in the blade where shards of Kryptonite. These were Krypton Killers.

"Take them into custody, Kal-El will want them questioned before they are executed." Miya instructed Yume and Karasuba.

She turned to Batman. "You have just placed a most dangerous weapon in the hands of the worst of the Sekirei."

"I have no intention of letting her keep it. Or allowing you to hold onto yours. They will be returned to their storage place until they are needed again."

"And if Karasuba manages to get to Superman before you retrieve the sword?"

Batman just grunted. "Kal is far more than just his genes."

* * *

Superman's hand was actually bleeding as he hastily stripped his jeans, t-shirt and cape off and pulled on the suit. He would have to be more careful as it seemed something was interfering with his powers. He could still feel his divinity… godhood… this is _not_ a euphemism.

He had still had his speed as well partial strength as it hadn't taken much effort to break the glass case containing the suit.

As he finished donning the suit it began to morph to better fit his frame. It changed to a rich blue in colour… but on his chest appeared the emblem of the House of El. The Kryptonian symbol for Hope. Not the word as he had written on the barn years before.

He wondered why it had morphed to this and how it knew of his heritage, but he brushed the thoughts aside to deal with the being that was holding Metropolis hostage.

He had been trying to communicate with anyone on the outside; so far he only knew that Xander was on board the ship. He hadn't attempted any method of communication other than a few tapped out Morse codes on Superman's shoulder.

His first job was to make an exit to call in reinforcements.

"_THIRTY SECONDS TO BOTTLE CITY PERMANENT MICRO-STASIS."_

Ok, an exit was his second job. The last thing he wanted to do was break the equipment to restore Metropolis.

"Deal with the stolen people of Earth, my friend." Came a raspy voice as Death's Hand appeared next to Superman with his cloak and sabre out. "I will deal with the arrogant thief."

Superman nodded and sped off to find the controls.

"_You are an unknown. You do not register on my sensors… therefore: you are a hologram. A distraction." _The voice declared.

The being threw his light sabre like a javelin at the being causing it to scream in anger as the sword buried itself deep in its torso.

"Some distractions can be… deadly." Death's Hand chuckled as it summoned the light sabre back. "Come, let us dance." He said as he adopted a battle pose.

* * *

**A/N: Godly accessories.**

It was pointed out that instead of 'dog in a handbag' I wrote 'god in a hand bag'. I have since corrected this.

Unfortunately all I can now think about is Baldur walking around with his baby sister, Thor, in a handbag.

Only one more chapter left and then you have a looong wait. I have been writing since I started posting this but it has only been about twelve days and I started with nothing. I began year four before I posted the story and that gave me about 53 extra days to finish... and I still needed two weeks extra.

So it might be a few months before I finish Year Five.


	66. Chapter 66

With Metropolis gone and the invading Kryptonians and their black ship contained, the rest of the castle residents not trapped in the city were assembled outside the orbiting ship.

Unfortunately that group consisted of Tess, Lex, Harry, Mirage and Wolverine.

Mirage was far more interested in Lex's new getup.

"So… what is he? Iron Man version 2 to the power of 8?" She smirked as Lex hovered in space in the most recent incarnation of the Iron Man armour.

It was exactly the same colour as the previous versions with only miniscule adjustments to the decals. The real changes came from the on board systems and the fact that it had no seams what so ever. The entire thing was like liquid metal that solidified when activated.

"As long as we just call him Iron Man for short." Jean shrugged.

"I believe Tony would be thrilled to know that thousands of years in the future his legacy has spread to other universes." Emma drawled. "His ego would practically explode."

"Did you know I have a direct connection to The Vision in here?" Lex asked curiously. "Is this done through a relay on the door or is the suit actually capable of cross-dimensional communications?"

"It's a built in feature. It wasn't added until about a thousand years ago but even Tony Stark, the original Iron Man would have needed it." Jean explained.

"Well how about we focus on getting into this tin can instead of gossiping about the latest billionaire in a suit of armour?" Wolverine growled.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Emma asked.

"Just one." He grinned as he popped his claws.

"Laura, Emma and Wolverine, pick a spot and start carving. The rest of us will attempt to focus our various energy beams on one spot." Jean instructed.

For Harry, Dani and Tess this meant blasting away with magic.

* * *

"You really know how to hold your own!" Kyla called over her shoulder as she swung her lightsabre at another robot.

Not being a part of the brain trust like Chloe and Lana; Kyla and Lois had decided to do what they do best: Break stuff.

Despite being incarcerated in the miniature city the robots hadn't just dropped dead. They still kept coming. They had been trying to get civilians to safety when they stumbled across Jason and Amara battling away at larger version whilst trying to hold off a swarm of dog sized robots.

They had eagerly joined the fray and were impressed with how Jason handled himself.

"I'm a Ritchie Rich, Kyla. Like Lex I learnt the finer arts like fencing." Jason called back as he fired another round from the assault rifle he had 'acquired' from a near by police station.

"How does fencing make you so good at head shots?" Lois asked she ducked a metallic arm. The only good thing about these robots was that they didn't have energy weapons. They relied on punching and hitting and physical actions.

"Because it was in my quest to escape my fencing lessons that I honed my skills on games like Quake, Doom and eventually… Halo."

"Wouldn't that mean you were skipping fencing lessons when you were sixteen?" Kyla asked.

"What can I say? My fencing instructor was as dedicated to trying to teach me as I was dedicated to not being taught." He smirked as he made another headshot. Amara had added some quick charms to it so it had negligible recoil but infinite ammo. She had mentioned what she did to the ammo itself but it easily went into the robots before exploding.

There was an explosion as Amara punched a large robot in her lava form sending it crashing into a storefront. What had caused the explosion was unclear but the families trapped in the apartments above the store where very clear.

"I've got the civilians." Jason called out.

"I'm on your six!" Kyla added.

"You guys are just going to leave us?" Lois asked worriedly as she fired more blasting hexes at the oncoming horde.

"You're doing fine Lo'. Just watch your back." Kyla called as she ran after Jason.

"_You_ were watching my back!"

Things suddenly got a lot hotter as Amara moved in closer. "Lois, take to the skies and fire from there. I will continue in hand-to-hand." She ordered.

"Yes Ma'am." Lois acknowledged. She was _not_ going to argue with the woman who was tearing heads off six-foot tall robots with hands made of molten lava.

* * *

"How do we repel fire?" Jason asked quickly as Kyla joined him at the front of the store.

"Same as with everything else. Just will it. Gotta admit I'm wishing Tsukiumi and Akitsu were here though." She muttered. "Let's phase through the roof." She suggested as she took to the air.

They quickly made it through the roof and into the building with bubblehead and cooling charms on. There were six families made of thirteen adults and twenty-eight children. There was no way they could do it in one trip.

"You take them out and I'll act as the anchor." Kyla instructed.

"Where should I take them?" He asked.

Kyla thought for a moment. "LexCorp, Lex's office should be deserted but fortified."

"I've never been there."

"Me neither." Kyla admitted.

"I've got it!" Jason said suddenly. They had to duck as a beam collapsed but Kyla easily tossed it away. "I'll line of sight teleport to that building." He pointed to the flat roof across the street.

"Go!"

Jason quickly grabbed the nearest kids and teleported out. He wasn't back as quick as Kyla hoped as he had to try and pry two very scared children off of him.

Unfortunately the robots had found them and they weren't bothered by fire as they began making their way up the stairs. Amara and Lois were still too busy dealing with the rest of the horde.

"Ah shit!" Jason swore as he teleported back and saw the robots.

"Less swearing more teleporting!" Kyla shouted as she tried to do everything she could to slow the robots down without damaging the burning building they were trapped in.

Jason vanished and quickly returned. Only to grab two more and vanish again.

He made three more trips before the robots made it to the top of the stairs and Kyla was forced to engage in hand-to-hand again.

"I can't keep them back much longer!" Kyla shouted as she ripped the head off a robot and kicked the body back down the stairs.

Jason had just managed to get half the children out. It had been so hard to hear over the screaming that he had cast silencers at random people in-between trips.

He felt a hand grab him and it pointed out the window.

Standing there was a robot as tall as the building raising its fist to sledgehammer down on them.

"Kyla! Run!" Jason shouted as he pushed his way through the people back to the stairs. He just made it as he sent the most powerful banishing spell he could at the rest of the civilians sending them flying out the window and onto the street just as the fist breached the ceiling.

* * *

Around the shrunken city of Metropolis Lois, Lana, Chloe and Jodi stumbled as they felt a massive jolt of power as they lost the buffer between themselves and Clark and his Sekirei.

They didn't know what caused it but they knew they had a lot more to work with now.

* * *

Standing in the midst of the still burning building were the souls of Kyla Willowbrook and Jason Teague.

"Well… I had a good run." Jason sighed as he tried to hide the sadness he felt. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye to Lana.

"It's not over yet." Kyla snorted.

"Wha- whoa! You're naked! Ack! I'm naked!" He cried as he averted his eyes and quickly covered himself.

"Get over yourself." Kyla waved a dismissive hand as she stood there unashamedly. "All souls are naked, only Harry can give them clothes. Or apparently if there is enough magic in the area we can make them and appear to others."

Jason frowned thoughtfully before lowering his hands and turning to look at Kyla… her head that is.

"I am dead I guess. There isn't much Clark can do to me for seeing you like this." Jason turned around and looked off into the distance where he could see a glowing light that was clear through the burning walls. "I guess that's where we need to go. Come on." He said.

"I'm going no where." Kyla said adamantly as she indicated the ethereal streams that lead from her to Clark and Lana. "And if you love Lana you'll think long and hard about going as well."

"I do love her." He scowled. "But maybe this is meant to be my time. Maybe this is meant to be what's best for Lana."

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?" Kyla demanded as she stalked up to him.

Jason struggled to keep his eyes from lowering to her bouncing… assets.

Jason swallowed hard. "Erm… she's bound to you… technically she is bound to Clark. I know she loves him and he loves her… this way I won't be in the way." He finished with firmness in his voice.

"She loves you too you frigging idiot!" Kyla snapped. "Lana is immortal… bound to a Phoenix, she only dies if Harry says so. She has eternity to spend with Clark, can't you give her a few years with you?"

Jason turned around, his face downcast. "It's not that easy… I like Clark; I think he's great. But even if he's not with Lana physically… he still holds a big part of her heart. I can handle sharing her with her sister Amazons, but this is something else."

"Lana said the same thing." Kyla informed him in a calmer tone. Jason turned and looked at her quizzically. "That is the reason she wasn't with Clark when you first met. She didn't think she was capable of being in a multi-partner relationship. So she broke up with Clark before I even met him.

"Bitch broke his heart." She snarled. "Are you gonna break hers?"

"Clark's heart seems fine now." Jason pointed out with sad smile.

"He still remembers the pain."

* * *

Superman found the controls for the micro-stasis machine.

The whole damned thing was in Kryptonian.

That wasn't a problem as he could communicate in Kryptonian. But it just felt insulting in someway.

Besides, he had no idea how to navigate the menu system on the damned screen. It was almost as bad as trying to figure out the crystal interface of Krypton.

"Acknowledge command, reverse transportation and micro-stasis of bottle city of Earth: Met-rop-ol-is." He mimicked the voice of Brainiac as best he could.

"_Command acknowledged. Beginning reversal procedure."_

Superman grinned triumphantly. Just as Laura had done years before with his ship, the vocal interface worked perfectly.

He turned and sped back to the bottle room where he found Death's Hand happily hacking away at the downed being.

"What happened? Where's your arm?" Superman asked.

Sure enough Xander was missing his left arm.

"Erm… the robot cut it off."

Superman frowned. That had seemed a little forced. "What happened?" He asked again.

"Fine!" Xander sulked as he threw back his hood. "I may have tried to do a flashy spin with my lightsabre and cut off my own arm. Happy?"

Superman just smirked as he stepped up to Xander and began re-growing the arm for him.

"Nice duds by the way. Kryptonian Battle Armour, right?" Xander commented.

"I just hope they are easy to get off."

"Bet your girls do too." Xander grinned.

"There, good as new." Superman declared as he released Xander's arm.

"Thanks, how about we try and open the doors for the others or something."

"Acknowledge command: Open external hatches and permit communications with Earth."

"_Command acknowledged. Airlocks open, communication with Earth enabled."_

"What is the stasis of Metropolis?"

"_Earth City: Metropolis, enlarged and returned."_

"Nice job fellas."

The pair turned to see Mirage and the others walking in. "Just one question: Who does this belong too?" She held up a severed arm.

Superman just grinned as he patted Xander on the back. "Make sure you tell them the truth… because I will."

"Bastard."

"Possibly… I know nothing of my birth after all." He smirked.

"These aren't just scale models, are they?" Cyclops asked as he examined the cities in bottles.

"According to the jerk-of-many-pieces lying on the floor, they are the actual cities just miniaturised." Xander confirmed.

"He lied though." Superman scowled as he walked up. "There are no souls in these bottles."

"What do you mean?" Mirage asked.

"The bastard tried to make Clark choose between Kandor of his home planet and Metropolis of his adopted planet." Xander explained.

"What did you do?" John Stewart asked curiously.

"I believe the pieces of jerk all over the floor should answer that for you GL." The Flash chuckled.

"It must have been a glorious battle." Hawkgirl said in appreciation.

"Yeah, severed limbs and all." Mirage grinned as she waved the arm again.

"Why are you holding that?" Superman asked in disgust.

"If you apply magic in the right way it works as a great tool for picking things up!" She demonstrated by applying magic to the stump and making the hand bend at the elbow and wave.

"I feel violated." Xander said blankly.

"Try not to break the Father of Death." Jean sighed as she vanished the arm.

"I'm getting a lot of calls from Metropolis." Harry said seriously. "Superman, Dad, you come with me. The rest of you deal with this abomination." He waved his hand around indicating the ship.

* * *

Harry, Superman and Xander arrived next to Amara and Lois who were standing over a group of bodies that consisted of men, women and children. Behind them Chloe and Lana were trying to console a group of other children.

"There is nothing I can do. They have already crossed over." Harry said sadly.

"But you can give the kids a chance to say goodbye to their parents." Xander offered.

"True. When I am finished I will deal with Kyla and Jason." He said as he walked off.

Xander looked at Superman curiously.

"Kyla. Jason." He said as he pointed to two spots nearby.

"That ought to be an interesting story."

"Superman, can you do that… thing you did when I was out of body?" Lana asked worriedly as she stood in front of Superman wringing her hands.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't feel right. I feel like I did when I first woke up before you kissed one of your Sekirei and before Jodi joined with me."

"She's in pain Superman." Xander explained. "Kyla doesn't have a proper connection at the minute and so Lana needs a temporary patch."

"Ok, I'll give it a shot." He said as he put a hand on Lana's shoulder. "But I've never dealt with a soul in a body before."

He closed his eyes and focused.

Lana sighed in relief as she closed her eyes leant her forehead on Superman's chest.

"We'll get Kyla back in her body as quick as we can." Xander promised her.

Lana just nodded from her position on Superman's chest.

* * *

"Do you still believe that she wouldn't be better off with him than me?" Jason asked sadly as he watched the woman he love receive the healing she needed from another man.

"Everyone would be better off with Harry and Clark." Kyla said softly. "But I can see why this is hard for you." She admitted.

"So will you be coming with me then?"

They turned to see a slender, blonde woman who was just as naked as them standing there with a soft smile.

"Are you here to guide me over? Cause I gotta say, I can totally see why people would think you are an angel." Jason grinned.

"Smooth. Very smooth." The woman grinned. "But let's focus. If you want to crossover to the after life then the choice is yours. Very few people are given this choice… but you _are_ friends with Harry and Clark." She shrugged.

Jason loved the way naked women kept shrugging around him… he just hoped Lana wouldn't castrate him.

"Who are you?" Kyla asked curiously.

"Buffy Summers, an old friend of Xander's." She smiled. "He has come a _very _long way from the awkward teenager I first met."

"Girlfriend?" Jason asked.

Buffy looked at him with a curious smile. "No. But he did ask me out. I was fixated on someone else but he never stopped being my friend. Never left my side.

"He was a jealous idiot of course but… he was always there." She said fondly. Then she scowled. "Until my mother went and stole him from us."

"I get the message." Jason said defensively as Kyla grinned at him.

"Good, because I would have hated to have to drop the subtlety and beat you around the head with it." Buffy smirked. "But the decision is still yours. You don't have to stay here, you can come with me."

Jason looked at Lana sadly before looking at the children and the souls of their parents.

"I can't leave. Lana deserves an explanation and… I can help… people like them." He pointed to the children.

"I'll stay." He said firmly.

"Good choice." Buffy nodded. "Just remember that Lana is one in a million… but so is everyone else."

* * *

Jason and Kyla were fully re-embodied as they joined the others at the conference table in the Great Hall that evening.

Despite victory for Superman and Death's Hand, the news of the Deaths in Metropolis were hard to take. People had been killed by the rampaging Terminauts, fires and explosions from buildings chopped in half and gas lines cut, people drowning in the Hobbs River as the bridges were sliced in two and finally there were those who where literally squashed as the dome landed.

Half a million people were dead in one day.

It was hard to call any part of what happened a 'victory'.

"We need a better system in place." Clark said firmly. "The people of Earth don't deserve to suffer when we know of technology that can save and protect them."

"We will use whatever we can to protect the planet from external threats Clark but we can't just dump new technology on the planet if they aren't ready for it." Scott reasoned.

"They never have to know its there." Chloe shrugged. "Run it all from the Hidden City. You can't even _talk_ about the city if you haven't been told about it by Harry or Clark."

"We can do that." Phoebe nodded.

"But you have to remember that space is big." Mindee frowned.

"Far too big to effectively patrol." Celeste finished.

John Henry Irons sat there and tried to follow what was happening. His world had been turned upside down when he was told that Superman wasn't even technically nineteen yet and that Death was his brother.

Then he discovered just how useless his efforts to help people had been when they revealed the death toll of the day.

It was all getting to him.

"I want to know who is going to pay for what happened!" He said as he angrily smashed his armoured fist on the table. The magically reinforced table was not going to break.

He was the only one in costume as even Clark had managed to get his new suit off.

"Thousands of people are dead and there is no one to answer for it." He snarled. He turned to Harry. "You claim to be Death, can't you bring the bastard who did this back so we can make him pay?"

"Easy there big guy, we're all angry but you need to dial it back a bit." Barry warned.

Shayera had discreetly palmed her mace but she was surprised when she glanced at Miya and the woman gave her a calm shake of the head.

"If he's Death then he needs to explain why all those people died. Their families deserve to know why he won't bring them back!"

Xander calmly stood up and walked around the table and stood in front of John Henry Irons. "Follow me. You have questions and I have answers." Without another word he turned and walked off.

John looked to General Lane who was seated next to his daughter. "Go with him. You won't be in any danger."

John turned and stomped off angrily.

"Logan, could you…?" Harry requested.

"Sure thing. I could use a tussle." Logan grunted as he stood and followed after the two men.

"Are they seriously going to waste energy fighting _now_?" John Stewart asked in disbelief.

"It helps some people when they have pent up anger." Laura said quietly. "They will talk and fight at the same time and Dr. Irons will release his frustration on them."

"Back to the matters at hand." Emma brought them back on topic. "We will liaise with North Korea and Japan to install a system to monitor the solar system for intrusion. We already receive alerts from the Green Lanterns but this will also help.

"Now, what is to happen to the ship and the contained cities?" She asked.

"The Corp has taken the ship to a safe planet where they intend to study the systems and attempt to determine where each of the bottled cities came from." John Stewart reported. "Ganthet asked me to make a formal request for aid from one of your AI friends. But he didn't give me any further explanation." He frowned.

"I can take you with me back to our dimension so you can meet some people and gain a better understanding of us." Brunhilde offered. "We can bring back an AI friend with us."

"Miya, what happened with the meteor shower and the invaders?" Emma asked.

"The meteors were easily dealt with thanks to the anti-grav mines. The invaders turned out to be Kryptonians."

"I knew all that blather about being the last of your kind was just a ploy to get women." Dani grinned.

"If these two are indeed the only other Kryptonians left then Clark may indeed become the last of his kind." Miya said seriously. "I have little doubt that Clark and Harry will see them and declare their intent to destroy their souls."

"We will have them interrogated then handed over for judgment then." Scott nodded.

"I have allowed Ryan to start interrogation procedures." Miya said hesitantly. "He has back up from the Sheriff, Earl and Alfred Pennyworth, but as he pointed out, he needs to start somewhere and here is as good a place as any."

Clark smiled proudly. "He'll do fine. We'll have someone check his work and barring any major issues we will use this as a means to test what he needs to learn for the future."

"Are sending their ship to Oa?" Lorna asked.

"I had it sent to MBI." Miya answered. "Matsu was intrigued by what she found and… I caved." She admitted with red cheeks.

"Wow, you don't even give in to Kusano!" Kyla exclaimed.

"I have no excuse." Miya said slightly shamed.

"Relax, your Sekirei are tough bunch to get a grip on. If they didn't all have so much respect for you, Clark and Harry they would have ruled the world by now." Dani grinned.

"My Amazons often ask if the Sekirei will be coming to live with them." Amara chuckled. "They are conflicted over the existence of male Sekirei though."

"Who wants to tell them that Mutsu would be happy to help them learn to deal with it?" Clark grinned.

"You gotta feel sorry for him." Harry admitted. "Mikogami has just found himself a boyfriend. He is fast becoming a third wheel."

"Aren't Mikogami's female Sekirei interested in him?" Lana asked.

"Sekirei don't really see each other in that way." Miya answered. "They love each other and… as Musubi and Matsu have shown, they will… 'play' with each other, but they don't see themselves as partners for each other."

"Well he won't have much luck with my Amazons." Amara said with a roll of her eyes.

"Does anyone else have something to report?" Emma asked, once again getting everyone to focus.

"I could use some more practice in the Iron Man suit." Lex admitted.

"We should probably build the Danger Room in the castle." Lorna mused. "With people like Dr. Irons and others appearing who are looking to help with disasters and combat situations, we could use a suitable training arena."

"We could have Harry build a magical one." Phoebe suggested.

"Much more realistic." Mindee nodded.

"And so many _other _uses." Celeste moaned indecently making people like John Stewart very uncomfortable.

"Whilst that might work for our private use, I was thinking of something that Wayne Industries and MBI could reasonably develop and then sell for use to people like the Red Cross, Fire-fighters, Coast Guard and so on. A better training environment." Lorna explained.

"Fine, but I'm with the girls. We get Harry to build one here." Dani said firmly.

"Anything else?" Emma asked tiredly. These people were far too easily distracted. "SCOTT!"

Scott blushed as he realised Emma had caught him day dreaming about having fun in a simulation of the Savage Land.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"We can just use the portal for that." She smirked as Jean covered her mouth to hide her snickering.

"What do we tell the people of Metropolis and the world?" The Japanese Prime Minister spoke up for the first time.

"The truth." Clark said firmly. "An alien craft entered our system, we moved to intercept and determine its intent but were unable to evacuate the city in the time necessary. Superman and a small team where able to board the ship and stop the attackers and restore Metropolis to Earth but not without severe losses."

"We'll tell the truth without giving names or codenames of the people like the Amazons and Sekirei involved." Scott added. "We'll just call them 'Elite Teams'."

* * *

Jason had taken Lana back to his apartment above the Talon so he could talk to her. She beat him to it.

"You want to break up. No. You need to break up with me." She said calmly, but the sadness was there.

"Did one of the Cuck-"

"No, but in some ways I've been expecting this." She admitted as she sat on the edge of the bed before flopping backwards on it. "Aphrodite reminded me of how I felt when I discovered Clark was going to have more than one girlfriend. She said it was going to feel the same for you… even if there wasn't anything between me and Clark." She wiped away the tear that trickled back into her hair.

Jason flopped down beside her. "We're supposed to live for thousands of years now. Maybe in a few years or decade we'll both be to the point where we can handle sharing each other."

"You know that without you around the pull towards Kyla and Clark will get stronger." She said pointedly with a little hiccup as she tried not to cry.

"Yeah… and that is part of the reason why I want to go. I want you… I want you to give them a shot." He said as he swallowed tightly. This was hard to do. "I don't think you'll be able to truly be with anyone else until you are comfortable with Clark."

"More Kyla than Clark." Lana sniffled.

"You're bi?" He just couldn't help himself.

"Sneaky bitch had Harry bind my soul to hers. I am drawn to Clark through her, but primarily to her." She scowled as more silent tears rolled down her temples. Her head was pounding with pressure as the weight of the situation crushed her.

"You would have been with Clark anyway." Jason shook his head, shaking the bed slightly. "You still love him- not that you don't love me and haven't given me your full… attention… but even I could see you still loved him when we first met."

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"When are you leaving?" She asked quietly.

"I am heading through the portal tomorrow. It wasn't planned, but Harry and Scott said they had some special training available for me whenever I wanted. I figure I should go as soon as possible. I'll be back for the next school year though; I still have my position as Assistant Coach. Scott is talking about having take up more responsibilities now that you won't be there."

"We are good together though… right?" Lana asked as she turned on her side to face him.

"We were great together. We may even be great together again someday. But… we both need to work through our own things before we can be together properly.

"Maybe when we do get together next time it will be until death do us part. Well… me anyway as you are immortal now thanks to Chloe."

"I don't want you to go." Lana sobbed.

"I don't want to leave." Jason admitted as his own tears finally fell.

* * *

Jason had been told that he was _not_ allowed to leave until after the victory celebration. It was a very adamant set of triplets that made it clear it was non-negotiable.

Everyone was at the beach at the MBI resort from the Amazons to the Emperor of Japan himself. The Sekirei and Amazons frolicked in the ocean as the Sekirei taught them various games.

There was a distinct group of people in their uniforms or suits who were not enjoying the happy atmosphere. Namely John Irons, John Stewart and Jason Teague.

"You three really need to lighten up." Lorna said as she walked over with Brunhilde.

"Thousands of people died. It doesn't really seem like the sort of thing to celebrate." John Stewart scowled.

"Well we aren't celebrating that." Lorna rolled her eyes. "We are celebrating the fact that we survived, that we drove the enemy off and that despite the fact we lost thousands of people… we saved millions."

None of the men looked convinced. "You three are heroes recognised by the most powerful being in existence." Brunhilde said sternly. "You will be called upon time and time again to face the horrors of the universe. You will see millions die at the hands of tyrants. You must learn to put the burden of those deaths aside as they are not yours to shoulder. If you cannot do this then your time as a hero will be short as they stress will kill off your spirit and corrupt it."

"If we had been faster, stronger… if we'd had more time." Irons said… almost pleading.

"Do not dwell on 'what ifs' gentlemen. Focus on what you achieved with what you have. Then celebrate your accomplishments before moving on to better yourselves.

"Jason, walk with me." Brunhilde instructed.

It was a very downcast Jason that walked quietly with Brunhilde to an out of the way spot where they could talk privately.

"What troubles you?" She asked. "We know of your decision to end your current relationship with Lana. But why would you choose to spend time in the presence of those two?"

"Because I failed." Jason said quietly. "Worse… I actually killed the people I was supposed to save."

"You refer of course to your final act of banishing the people out of the building and onto the street where four of them died from impact and six from the robots."

"Yeah… thanks for bringing that up." He said sarcastically.

"I watched the memories you submitted, Jason. I know why you did that. You tried to save them, to give them the chance at survival that they could not have under the fist of that larger robot.

"And I saw you knowingly and willingly sacrifice your only chance at survival to save them and suffer what must have been agonising pain."

"Bottom line: Four died at my hands and six died because of my actions."

"Foolishness." Brunhilde said heatedly. "If you must know of true pain because of your actions then talk to Thor when you go through the portal. Ask him to tell you the tale of The Wasp at my request. Part of his soul died that day."

"You know… humans are a resilient bunch." They turned to see Harry standing there. "I'm living proof of that when you consider my childhood. But that doesn't mean we should have to stand there and suffer and try to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders… especially if we don't have that right."

Harry held out a hand to Brunhilde. "Stay here for a while. There are some people who want to talk to you."

As Harry and Brunhilde walked off, various souls appeared around him. He recognised them immediately. They haunted his nightmares.

He saw the man who had pointed out the large robot stalk angrily up to him. "Next time you see a big stinking hand about to squash your tiny brain, get the hell out of there! There are too few people who are willing to sacrifice everything for a stranger. The world needs people like you alive… out there… saving others."

"I-"

"Give it up kid." The man growled. "I served in Desert Storm. My friends died around me and I alone survived. I picked myself up and did everything I could to honour their sacrifice. You are pretty damned unique considering you now get the chance to honour your _own_ sacrifice."

Jason noticed the rest of the group of souls nodding and glaring at him.

A woman sat down next to him. "You probably don't recognise me." She smiled at him. "I'm the little girl who you didn't manage to get out in time.

"Don't be like that doofus!" She scolded gently as Jason closed his eyes in painful memory. "You saved my mom and brother when you tossed us out the window.

"Stop being a grumpy sour puss and go out there and enjoy yourself." She ordered. "And don't make us have to come back and tell you off again. Being back here hurts after a while."

"I've got him." Lex said with a smile as he walked up in Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. "Come on Jace, you and I are going to be spending a fair amount of time together over the next few months. We need to make sure your tolerance for alcohol is good enough or you won't remember most evenings. Thor likes to drag visitors to every drinking establishment he can find." He explained as he shoved a bottle of beer into the man's hand.

"Do you think he will be ok?" As the girl spoke a new soul appeared.

Luna Lovegood just smiled at the retreating pair. "He'll be fine. He has plenty of friends who love him and won't let him fall."

* * *

**A/N: The End... ?**

Of course not!

I already have 14,000 words of year five written... which really isn't much.

Yes... I broke up Jason and Lana. You lot should have seen that coming since Kyla bonded with Lana.

Like I said, it could be a month or two. Hopefully not longer but if it is I will see if I can't split the year or something and post what I have. Writing stories in one shot helps me make sure I don't leave major plot holes. There was this whole thing where Lex could/couldn't talk when he passed over or the fact that no one could see Gabe but everyone could see Dawn.

Anyway, we will have to see what happens. I couldn't say myself as I haven't written it.

Till next time!


End file.
